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[OM] Sunglasses, Polarizers and Photography

Subject: [OM] Sunglasses, Polarizers and Photography
From: Winsor Crosby <wincros@xxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 17:51:08 -0500 (CDT)
Before setting out on my vacation just past, I decided to experiment with
the polarizing filter I had purchased a couple of years ago. Having
misplaced my neutral gray sunglasses sometime ago, I purchased a pair with
polarized lenses before I left. Big mistake

The problem did not reveal itself till I got back some of my slides. The
haze that I saw in Zion was definitely eliminated but there was some rather
hideously exaggerated color in many of the pics taken with the polarizer.
It had not been noticed in the viewfinder when I took them even though  I
pop the sunglasses off when taking a picture.

I am writing this just after returning from an extended walk, wearing the
sunglasses, to the beach on a sunny day. This time I kept pulling the
glasses down the bridge of my nose and comparing what I saw with and
without the glasses. It is harder to notice with the glasses because of the
tint, but the horribly green foliage and other altered colors were there in
spades. On the way back I stopped comparing after a while I became
accustomed to the appearance of Long Beach through the polarized lenses.

I have reached a couple of conclusions which perhaps most of you have
already reached.

1. I think I got so accustomed to seeing things polarized that I did not
notice how bad things looked through the viewfinder. If you are going to
look through anything in addition to your own corneas, then that thing
should be as neutral as possible unless you want an altered visual
perception to control your picture taking.

2. Polarizers used without restraint are not suitable for general landscape
photography. They may be alright for producing a picture when you are
trying to achieve an artistic, but thoroughly unnnatural effect.

Any thoughts on the subject?

Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
mailto:wincros@xxxxxxxxxxx





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