Circular Polarizing Filter and UV Filter

Hey guys hope you are enjoying and having fun. I wasn't able to upload anything on the blog anyways I'll try to be regular.

Today I have something interesting to share; we will be learning about circular polarizer filters, I bought my circular polarizer filter recently. Information presented here is mostly based on my experience in addition to some websites I consulted which are mentioned in the references and links.

The specifications are as follows:

P&J Photo Circular Polarizing Filter 72mm

There are two sorts of Polarizing filters.

• Linear Polarizer
  
• Circular Polarizer
  

Here I will cover the one I have the "Circular Polarizer"

Circular Polarizing Filter

Who needs these filters?!

These can be used for both outdoor and indoor photographers. There are several advantages that you get with these filters. However to get the maximum effect from this filter you should be shooting at 90° i.e. perpendicular to the sun.

• Reducing haze – I haven't had the chance to test this feature yet but as I read on camerapedia.org that a polarizing filter will block the crossing polarization patterns of scattered and reflected light to reduce haze
  
• Removing reflections – This is the best part about this filter, I actually bought this filter because of this feature. This eliminates the reflections from shots by rotating the polarizing filter the light gets cross polarized

• Water gets transparent – and shadows appear darker

Rotating to minimize effect (below)



Rotating to maximize the effect (notice the rocks are visible and the saturation in water increases - below)

• Also try with waterfalls or flowing water
  

• Increasing color saturation – I have particularly noticed this for the sky, its so much fun when you rotate the filter the blue sky gets intense. For landscape photographers this can be pretty interesting. in a week
  
• Low light – For lowlight there are two sides to it
  

  Advantage: This really helps when shooting outdoors at around 12-3 pm when the sunlight is extremely bright. The filter helps reduce the amount of light by about 1-2 stops. It gave me more control while i was taking shots on a bright day at Hala February festival in Kuwait.
  

  Disadvantage: In a lower light usually indoors/full covered sky with clouds/after sunset you might need more light to reduce the noise.

• Rotating to cancel the effect (below)
  
  
  

• Rotating to maximize effect (below)
  
  
  

  
  Shots taken at Kuwait "Hala February", Sharq Mall
  

Ultraviolet Filters (UV Filters)

The specifications are as follows:

SUNPAK PicturesPlus^TM Filter 72mm

To absorb UV rays. It gives a clear sharp picture reducing haze. However mostly people do not notice a very visible difference between the results.

Since these are not expensive photographers often use them on their lenses to protect them from dust, moisture, scratches / smudges, and breakage.

*Just a practical experience one of my friends has already experienced this when his camera fell and he cracked his UV filter but the lens got saved. It is worth buying one rather than scratching an expensive lens.*

References and Links

• http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Polarizer
  
• http://www.offrench.net/photos/articles/polarizing_filter.php
  
• http://www.photo96.com/tr/dp/cpl_01.htm
  

Have fun

I hope you find this information really useful and liked the results, please do quote me and inform me if you link my work somewhere. I would love to appreciate your work.

More of my images can be found at

Deviant Art: http://sk3l.deviantart.com/

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/sk3l

Blog: http://asadanwarphotography.blogspot.com

Contact information:

Official Website: http://www.asadanwar.net

For Questions/Comments/Suggestions: skeletor1@gmail.com

All images in this review are copyright material

© Asad Anwar Photography