Polarizer vs #15 yellow filter

[ignatiusjk]

I shoot both chromes and B&W and accidently left the polarizer on the lens for a B&W shot and was amazed at the quality of the photo. Have any of you used a polarizer instead of a #15 yellow filter and if so why.

[Ron Marshall]

With b/w film, I use a #15 or #12 most often to lower the tonal value of a blue sky or other objects complementary in color to the filter. If I want to darken the sky a bit more than what a #12 alone would do, withour darkening foliage, I use both a #12 and a polarizer (works best at 90 degrees to the sun, and with shorter focal length lenses uneven sky tone may result). Also it is used to reduce reflections and glare.

For color I use the polarizer to reduce glare or reflections, mainly from foliage, giving more saturated colors, and also to darken the sky.

[Ken Lee]

What Ron said, precisely.

I don't even own a red or orange filter.

I use Yellow, or Yellow + Polarizer (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/tech.html#Filter) - that's all.

[Brian Schall]

I have a shot where I was trying to photograph some petroglyphs in the foreground with a thunder storm in the background. There was a glare on the rocks where the petroglyphs were. A yellow filter did not cut the glare where you could see the glyphs. The polarizer worked fine, cutting the glare and separating the cloud from the sky.

[lenser]

Hi, Ignatius.

I wouldn't dream of going out to shoot B&W without a polarizer in my kit as well as the yellow, and deep red filters. And, yes, I use the polarizer with the red as well as the yellow. With the red and slight underexposure it gives a nearly black sky to really highlight the clouds in creamy white shades. It's not for every shot, but when you use it, it's an OMG moment......if it's appropriate.

[Brian Ellis]

Occasional use of a polarizer with b&w film is very common, in fact it's probably the norm rather than the exception. But it isn't a substitute for yellow, orange, red, etc. filters.

A polarizer can't separate colors in b&w photography the way colored filters can (e.g. red apple against green leaves won't show up very well unless you use a red filter to darken the apple or a green filter to lighten the leaves). I mostly use colored filters for that purpose, not so much to darken skies. Also, the effect of a polarizer in darkening skies or reducing glare varies from a lot to none depending on the position of the light source relative to the direction in which you're photographing. Finally, when darkening the sky a polarizer on a wide angle lens will usually produce some unwanted vignetting at the corners of the photograph. Of course a polarizer can also do things a colored filter can't do, e.g. removing or minimizing reflections.

So don't throw away those colored filters, use them when appropriate, use your polarizer when appropriate.

[Daniel_Buck]

I've used both color and polarizer filters together, that can yield some nice results, when needed. :) I tend to like dramatic skies though, so I double up with a dark yellow, orange or red, with a polarizer if there is a nice sky.

[Kirk Gittings]

Brian is that shot up north of the Sandias somewhere?

[Brian Schall]

Out west in the Ojita Wilderness Area.