Avoiding glass reflections

[Overread]

I seem to recall someone mentioning that a polarizer/UV filter (can't remember which) was good at removing the reflection effect of water when shooting at fish - I was wondering if the same would be true of removing/reducing the reflective properties of glass. Even if it just stops some glare from the glass that would be a big help == something like removing the effect you can see below:

 

[Village Idiot]

A CP will only remove the glare from polarized light. It won't remove direct reflections.

 

[Dao]

When light reflected off a surface such as a piece of glass, it becomes a polarized light. And a polarize filter should cut some of those reflected light out.

Quoted from Wikipedia:

"Light reflected by shiny transparent materials is partly or fully polarized, except when the light is normal (perpendicular) to the surface. It was through this effect that polarization was first discovered in 1808 by the mathematician Etienne Louis Malus. A polarizing filter, such as a pair of polarizing sunglasses, can be used to observe this effect by rotating the filter while looking through it at the reflection off of a distant horizontal surface. At certain rotation angles, the reflected light will be reduced or eliminated. Polarizing filters remove light polarized at 90° to the filter's polarization axis. If two polarizers are placed atop one another at 90° angles to one another, there is minimal light transmission."

 

[patrickt]

Most reflected light is polarized. Glare from glass, car finishes, shiny leaves, water, glossy paint or varnish are all polarized. With polarized light, the appearance of the reflection changes as your position relative to the reflection changes.

Go to a store on a bright sunny day or visit a friend with a polarizing lens and give it a try without a camera. Look through it, rotate it, and watch the color intensify, the glare change, and so forth. You can decide if it will be useful to you.

The only downside is a little bother with rotating the filter and a reduction in light which changes your exposure.

 

[Overread]

*has never used a filter of any kind*
do they rotate easily?
Further would there be different varients of plarizing filters (besides the price bandings)
I think a little alteration to exposure would be far easier to compensate on a bright day than reflections in a shot

 

[Josh66]

They rotate easy enough. Tighter than the focus ring, but not too tight.

And yes, they do work very well for removing reflections from windows or glossy painted surfaces, like a car.

If it's sunny enough that you have a bunch of reflections you would like to get rid of the extra exposure time you'll need because of the polarizer probably won't matter much.

 

[Overread]

Thanks for the help all - sounds like a polarizer is what I am after then - so anybody got any good recomendations of brand/make/model?
I am not looking for the budget line - no point spending so much on the lens only to put a cheapy polarizer infront (along with the thick zoo glass!)

 

[tirediron]

A circular polarizer will help, but the degree to which it will be effective is dependant on the direction of the light.

 

[Josh66]

Thanks for the help all - sounds like a polarizer is what I am after then - so anybody got any good recomendations of brand/make/model?
I am not looking for the budget line - no point spending so much on the lens only to put a cheapy polarizer infront (along with the thick zoo glass!)

Mine is B+W, I like it. You might want to avoid the slim filters, unless you really need them. They don't have filter threads to put another filter on top of it (that might not matter to you). What I don't like about them (the slim filters) is that they're harder to take off.