Polarisation Filter

[pdmoylan]

Through the filter with a reflected light meter. Or with the meter attached to a camera with a TTL meter.

Alan,

Having never used a light meter (sacrilege) other than through 35 cameras to meter LF film (and rarely having exposure issues), I am not familiar with other methods. Call me lazy.

I found myself taking a 35mm camera with a 50-55mm lens to use for closeup work not practical with LF.

So I started using it as a meter (calibrating each lens as mentioned above), and added a PL to the process when needed. Mostly matrix meter mode worked out best, spot etc if you prefer.

[xkaes]

The unevenness of the effect is because the actual sky light is unevenly polarized and becomes more apparent with ultra-wide angle lenses.

Call me lucky, I just haven't run into that many instances where I've wanted to have large portions of a color picture being nothing but clear, blue sky that I want to polarize -- and I've spent a lot of time in the desert.

[Martin Aislabie]

Going back to the OP.

Buy a good Polarising filter (B+W or similar)

I find it is best to have the polariser set to something close to mid-point in its effects.

Minimum = almost no effects and maximum = weird, rather dead looking effects.

I find it pays to take a long time viewing the subject through the polariser off camera to find the effect you like and then lining up the filter on camera to the same position.

Other things to look out for :-

Find a suitable uniform dry surface to stand the car on - tarmac or concrete are good - I once shot some cars on gravel and they looked like they had acne.

Almost every car photograph uses some level of matting spray to manage reflections - unless you already have a matt effect car paint.

Don't shoot on bright sunny days - overcast can be good as can the time just before sunrise or just after sunset.

As ever - watch your background - you want to photograph the car not a distracting background - unless you are in to the lifestyle type of photograph/car advert.

Make sure the car you are photographing is scrupulously clean - photographs somehow amplify any dirt or imperfections.

Most external car shots are made from the height of the wheel hub (middle of the wheel) - unless for a specific purpose.

Cars in car adverts have lots of weight inside them to weigh them down to reduce the ride height and the gap between the top of the tyre and the bottom of the wheel arch - otherwise they can look a bit dorky as they seem to be standing on tip toe.

Other than that - take your time and enjoy yourself.

I hope this helps

Martin

[xkaes]

The LAST thing you want to think about is how to get the exposure correct!!!

[pdmoylan]

The LAST thing you want to think about is how to get the exposure correct!!!

Indeed. You've worked so hard to get to the point of taking a nice photo, why mess it up with an exposure mishap. Better to eliminate risk of at least one variable.

[Doremus Scudder]

pdmoylan,

If you carry your 35mm camera with you anyway, then it can function as your meter too, eliminating the need to carry a separate one. Using TTL metering with the camera and the polarizer mounted (along with your "fudge factors*") is a good method to get exposure spot-on. My earlier post may have been a bit hasty; I thought you carried the 35mm camera just for the purpose of using it with the filter, and your lengthy description seemed a bit convoluted.

If you're just using the camera with polarizer mounted as I would reading the scene with my meter through the polarizer, then we're really doing essentially the same thing.

*Still, I'm surprised that you see the need to compensate exposure for this or that lens. The whole point of having f-stops is to be able to have the same setting regardless of focal length, etc. If you find one lens really transmits half a stop less light than others, something is likely wrong somewhere...

Best,

Doremus

[xkaes]

pdmoylan,

If you carry your 35mm camera with you anyway, then it can function as your meter too, eliminating the need to carry a separate one.

Best,

Doremus

Carry a 35mm camera and lens, along with all my 4x5 gear -- instead of a meter. I'll have to weigh that idea -- literally.

[Pieter]

Going back to the OP.

Buy a good Polarising filter (B+W or similar)

I find it is best to have the polariser set to something close to mid-point in its effects.

Minimum = almost no effects and maximum = weird, rather dead looking effects.

I find it pays to take a long time viewing the subject through the polariser off camera to find the effect you like and then lining up the filter on camera to the same position.

Other things to look out for :-

Find a suitable uniform dry surface to stand the car on - tarmac or concrete are good - I once shot some cars on gravel and they looked like they had acne.

Almost every car photograph uses some level of matting spray to manage reflections - unless you already have a matt effect car paint.

Don't shoot on bright sunny days - overcast can be good as can the time just before sunrise or just after sunset.

As ever - watch your background - you want to photograph the car not a distracting background - unless you are in to the lifestyle type of photograph/car advert.

Make sure the car you are photographing is scrupulously clean - photographs somehow amplify any dirt or imperfections.

Most external car shots are made from the height of the wheel hub (middle of the wheel) - unless for a specific purpose.

Cars in car adverts have lots of weight inside them to weigh them down to reduce the ride height and the gap between the top of the tyre and the bottom of the wheel arch - otherwise they can look a bit dorky as they seem to be standing on tip toe.

Other than that - take your time and enjoy yourself.

I hope this helps

Martin

Most car shooters will wet down the road before shooting--it looks much better than dry, and the bit of reflection of the car is nice. Position the camera so the road does not reflect back onto the car, though. I have never shot with a car photographer who used dulling spray--you really want it to look shiny if that is what the surface is. It takes careful camera placement and even lighting (usually from an enormous light box suspended over the car) plus reflectors and flags to do a proper job. And skip the polarizer, you really don't need it. As a side note when car designers make a clay mock-up, they will cover it with the equivalent of a silver metallic paint finish. That has enough reflective qualities for them to evaluate the lines of the car. Dark colors or white don't really work well for that purpose.

[Alan Klein]

Carry a 35mm camera and lens, along with all my 4x5 gear -- instead of a meter. I'll have to weigh that idea -- literally.

I carry an Olympus E-PL1 micro 4/3 which I use for metering, framing, visualization, etc. It's about the same size as my Minolta IIIF Autometer, which I also keep in the camera case.

[pdmoylan]

pdmoylan,

If you carry your 35mm camera with you anyway, then it can function as your meter too, eliminating the need to carry a separate one. Using TTL metering with the camera and the polarizer mounted (along with your "fudge factors*") is a good method to get exposure spot-on. My earlier post may have been a bit hasty; I thought you carried the 35mm camera just for the purpose of using it with the filter, and your lengthy description seemed a bit convoluted.

If you're just using the camera with polarizer mounted as I would reading the scene with my meter through the polarizer, then we're really doing essentially the same thing.

*Still, I'm surprised that you see the need to compensate exposure for this or that lens. The whole point of having f-stops is to be able to have the same setting regardless of focal length, etc. If you find one lens really transmits half a stop less light than others, something is likely wrong somewhere...

Best,

Doremus

Doremus,

The only thing I can attribute the difference to in exposure with the 90 f8 is lower transmission. The lens if I recall is an 8 element biogon design vs the almost symmetrical 6 element plasmats of my other 3 lenses. 1/2 stop add exposure required no matter the shutter speed vs my other lenses.

Used the 90 f8 for maybe 75% of my shots with the 300mm next eventually.

I don’t tend to analyze the whys, just find a solution and stick with it, of course unless someone provides something better.

“Convoluted”, well ok, will edit posts more carefully.