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Rainbow...
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One really nice musician is Tom Kristoffersen
from Norway.
Here he plays his © compostion "Rainbow". For more information, visit KRIZ's web site. Music used by permission. |
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| On bright colored objects, especially flowers, it will improve the
color saturation of the photo. It is not likely to improve snap shots of
people.
Whenever a photo is enlarged to 16 by 20, it looses a lot of detail and becomes flatter and more washed out looking. Polarizers "kick" up the color to compensate for this loss. Even when photos are published in a fine magazine, such as National Geographic, they loose quality and color saturation in the printing process. In printing, photos are converted to dots of colored inks. These dots are not as good as the original photo in terms representing the exact colors. A polarizer can help published photos look saturated, bright and fresh. |
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| How does
a polarizer work? |
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I'm glad you asked that question, since polarizers do fascinating
things with light. Just "borrow" two in a photo store. Hold them together
up to the light and rotate one. Astoundingly, all light disappears.
The simple diagram below attempts to show how polarizers work. |
| #1 The sun produces light waves which are scattered in all directions
(non polarized). Some of these waves go up and down and are (V) Vertically
polarized. Some of the waves go from side to side and are (H) Horizontally
polarized. And every direction in between.
#2 A polarizing filter is like a screen so tiny that only light waves which (in this example) go from side to side can get through. The filter blocks the waves which go up and down. Blocking about half the total amount of light. #3 With the sun above, glare is caused by (V) Vertical light waves bouncing off of the flower. Glare is seen on the flower as a shiny white areas, which wash out the. #4 Light waves which move (H) Horizontally do not bounce off the top nor have glare, but arrive becaue they were diffused in all directions. This horizontal light goes over, under, around, and through the flower. It is rich and saturated in color. The polarizing filter is selecting this saturated light from the glare and allowing it to pass through to the film. Then the pictures have super bright color. |
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Experts Use polarizers |
Polarizers sometimes give a bluish tint, visible when photographing white. Blue light has smaller waves and more of those sneak through. BTW. A polarizer can make a rainbow disappear or the sky deep blue. Can you guess why? It has been said that National Geographic photographers use polarizers and a (UV) skylight filter. A slightly warming skylight filter could reduce some excess blue produced by the polarizer. |
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| What is a UV (Ultra Violet) filter? | Light waves from the sun and flash units contain ultra violet waves
or radiation. In the same way that UV penetrates and burns your skin, it
"burns" into all the layers of the film. It washes out all of the color
layers in the film emulsion. It can make the photo whiter and duller.
Always use a UV filter. Besides, it protects the surface of the lens.
In the course of making 20,000 photos, skylight filters have saved two
lenses from getting smashed.
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