polarizing filter

[Drew Wiley]

I love the cat and mouse game of chasing complicated shadows and reflections. Once I got cussed out by someone looking at one of my big prints at an opening
which had a lot of layering of complex reflections. The curator loved the print, so did numerous others, but this guy was more of the type that appreciated cut and
dried calendar scenery, and got downright disoriented. I wasn't offended at all. I found his remarks fascinating relative to the psychology of it all ... the contrast between someone like me who has studied reflections on water and ice, etc long before I even owned a camera, and someone who doesn't even know this kind of visual world exists.

[David_Senesac]

Similar experiences to Drew so rarely use one although have a large 90mm circular available. Note I am a color landscape and nature photographer. Long ago in my 35mm SLR days experimented with them enough to generally dislike the affect with landscapes. Just too unnatural for my style that has interest in capturing natural moments with reasonable fidelity. That said I'd expect some of my images would have been better if I always bothered to check what the effect of a polarizer would offer. However view camera work is tedious enough anyway that I don't need to play that game especially since I seem to be highly successful as is.

David

[Greg Miller]

I love the cat and mouse game of chasing complicated shadows and reflections. Once I got cussed out by someone looking at one of my big prints at an opening
which had a lot of layering of complex reflections. The curator loved the print, so did numerous others, but this guy was more of the type that appreciated cut and
dried calendar scenery, and got downright disoriented. I wasn't offended at all. I found his remarks fascinating relative to the psychology of it all ... the contrast between someone like me who has studied reflections on water and ice, etc long before I even owned a camera, and someone who doesn't even know this kind of visual world exists.

What?!?!?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCysb4_-4jU

[Heroique]

A few additional thoughts that may be useful:

My volcanic region has lots of crystals in the land, rocks, and soil – they can reflect light in every conceivable angle, from every square inch of space, often in very pronounced fashion.

On one hand, my polarizer can't eliminate all these reflections, no matter what angle I choose between camera and sun.

On the other hand, my polarizer can eliminate them to some degree, no matter what angle I choose.

Field note #1: "Be careful not to over-estimate the limits of your polarizer!"
Field note #2: "Be careful not to under-underestimate the limits of your polarizer!"
Field note #3: "Maybe you want all the reflections – put away your polarizer!"
Field note #4" "Maybe this scene is best at dawn, dusk, or under cloud cover."

Of course, any choice about reflections may have a consequence on, say, the saturation of colors, the darkness of the sky, or shutter speed – but that's what makes photography fun!

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks, Greg. I love that ad. But the problem with these kinds of ads is that they're getting so fun and interesting in their own right that I wonder if anyone even remembers who the ad is for, who sponsored them? I sure don't. I go away with the impression, "great ad agency - who cares about the product".

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

Similar experiences to Drew so rarely use one although have a large 90mm circular available. Note I am a color landscape and nature photographer. Long ago in my 35mm SLR days experimented with them enough to generally dislike the affect with landscapes. Just too unnatural for my style that has interest in capturing natural moments with reasonable fidelity. That said I'd expect some of my images would have been better if I always bothered to check what the effect of a polarizer would offer. However view camera work is tedious enough anyway that I don't need to play that game especially since I seem to be highly successful as is.

David

David

You have a fantastic website. Absolutely fantastic. I really like how you take the time to explain what was going on with your mind and your seeing after each print that you show. great stuff! The only way it would be greater would be if you had video and audio showing you making the photos! Really nice.

[Drew Wiley]

Hmmm .... That isn't Stub Lake at the foot of Seven Gables on your home page is it, David? Last time I was up there, there was still a substantial glacier coming
down from the Class 3 pass over into Merriam Basin, with a distinct crevasse in it. I've been into the Seven Gables area several times since then, but not over the pass since. I've flown over, and the glacier is now completely gone!

[David_Senesac]

Hmmm .... That isn't Stub Lake at the foot of Seven Gables on your home page is it, David? Last time I was up there, there was still a substantial glacier coming
down from the Class 3 pass over into Merriam Basin, with a distinct crevasse in it. I've been into the Seven Gables area several times since then, but not over the pass since. I've flown over, and the glacier is now completely gone!

Since none of the images in Gallery_A that is on my homepage are up the East Fork of Bear Creek, am guessing you are talking about the marquee image at top? I use that same pic on my business cards. But then Stub Lake is rather down in a hole?

Maybe you are referring to the shallow no name lake downstream at the canyon dogleg we call L lake? Difficult guess as there are few clues though numbers have tried to guess where that is. Taken in Kings Canyon NP September 1980 with my first 35mm SLR an OM-1N. No-name lake not on a trail and also one of the few in the Sierra with sizeable goldens.

On the Gallery_B sub-page of more 4x5 images, row 4, 07-AA-6.jpg is from Vee Lake. Stub Lake a few hundred feet below the outlet up a narrow slot is always an interesting topo route impediment because a cliff at lake edge blocks turning downstream. And down on row 29 is another Vee Lake reflection, 07-AA-4.jpg.

[David_Senesac]

Well thank you very much Kevin, so appreciated from another large format photographer! (:

Our wonderful natural places in this fragile blue world have stories to tell that go beyond their visual attributes. With non-icon landscapes that most in our public audience won't recognize, I hope brief commentary with a little natural science will bring an audience out of their being mere aesthetic abstractions.

[Drew Wiley]

Thanks, David. The colors (not shape) were wrong for Stub Lk; but it would have been hypothetically possible the greens would have been affected by the gradual
drying of the basin since I photographed it maybe 30 yrs ago. The trick to getting around in that basin is to always follow the side of the main creek below the Seven Gables cliff itself - it's an easy ramp the whole way. The side facing Vee Lk is up and down boulders and mini-cliffs the whole way. Stub Lk is not down in
a hole per se, but certainly within a perimeter moraine right at the bottom of the monolith, and would have a good panorama from atop the moraine itself, along with a view of the lake. I surmise you are referring to the first lake in Seven Gables basin as "L" lake. If so, it has one of the most majestic views of any spot
in the Sierra.