>At 05:51 PM 6/20/1998 -0500, Winsor wrote:
>>
>snip
>>
>>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
>
>Hi Winsor:
>
>After evaluating my slides from my trip to the Big Bend in March, I vowed
>never to shoot with a polarizer without shooting a "control" shot without
>it. It does improve haze problems, but the current crop of films doesn't
>need that polarizer sky I used to try to get with Kodachrome.
>
>Most of the time, only part of the sky gets the polarized "improvement"
>anyway. Maybe somebody else can discern this just by looking, but I usually
>don't find out until it's an unpleasant surprise on the light bench. I
>think the polarizer is the most overrated and overused article in the
>camera bag.
>
>Joel
>
Joel,
At this point, I think I would agree with you 100 percent. It does make one
wonder whether some complaints about oversaturated color with certain films
are the result of the routine use of a polarizer combined with
experimentation with a film that is finally capable of recording all the
saturated color that is fed to it. For instance, many people are upset by
some of the Fuji and Ektachrome films that are designed for saturated
colors. Generally, I have been pleased by the realistic color rendition of
landscapes with Fuji films as have acclaimed landscape photographers like
Galen Rowell. However, if someone regularly uses a polarizer to "pump up"
the greens and earthtones rendition of an older film like Kodachrome which
tends to desaturate in the presence of glare for instance and then uses the
same technique with a more modern film then they are bound to be displeased
by rendition. Likewise if someone tends to err on the side of underexposure
to pump up saturation with their "normal" film, using the same technique on
a film like Velvia which is already underrated in speed can be disastrous.
Winsor
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
mailto:wincros@xxxxxxxxxxx
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