polarizers

[480sparky]

There would be an advantage!! I love to take photos of clouds with nothing in the photo but clouds and blue sky. Why would I want half the sky dull and the other half a beautiful blue?

OK, let's try this once again:

Explain WHY a polarizer that DOESN'T rotate would accomplish this?

 

[bob*donna]

Okay, I really think I'm being totally misunderstood. I was wondering if there is such a thing where the WHOLE piece of glass in a filter is polarized instead of half of the glass. I love to take photos of clouds. Not the whole sky, but a small portion of it and I don't want HALF the sky polarized and the other half not. Yes I am only an amateur but I just asked a very simple question that seems to have been misunderstood. I don't want a horizon line to worry about. Will a solid ND filter then give me a nice blue sky??

 

[480sparky]

Okay, I really think I'm being totally misunderstood. I was wondering if there is such a thing where the WHOLE piece of glass in a filter is polarized instead of half of the glass. I love to take photos of clouds. Not the whole sky, but a small portion of it and I don't want HALF the sky polarized and the other half not. Yes I am only an amateur but I just asked a very simple question that seems to have been misunderstood. I don't want a horizon line to worry about. Will a solid ND filter then give me a nice blue sky??

I've never heard of a split polarizer. There ARE split ND filters.

A solid ND filter will do nothing to darken the sky.... you would need to adjust the exposure accordingly and the sky will be rendered the same, just with a different set of exposure values (i.e., changing the shutter speed, aperture and/or ISO).


Solid ND filters do not rotate. They don't need to.

Split, or graduated filters, a required to rotate in order to 'line up' with the scene. They come in (the mostly useless) screw-in type,

And for the slide-in (Lee, Cokin, etc al):

Then there's the Variable ND filter, that must also rotate in order to adjust the density.

While ND and polarizers look the same to us measely humans, they perform vastly different functions when placed in front of a camera.

 

[bob*donna]

Then please tell me what can I do to get beautiful blue in the sky when in reality the blue in the sky is washed out because of a hazy day or extremely thin cirrus clouds. Please don't say edit it in photoshop. I like the effect a polarizer gives when I use it for other photos that are not sky only

 

[bob*donna]

I also have no clue why you said you've never heard of a split polarizer. I don't know where I even gave the impression that I was looking for one. I have never heard of one either

 

[480sparky]

I also have no clue why you said you've never heard of a split polarizer. I don't know where I even gave the impression that I was looking for one. I have never heard of one either

Are you serious?

I never said you were looking for one. You merely stated you didn't want one made that way (not that anyone actually does).

Okay, I really think I'm being totally misunderstood. I was wondering if there is such a thing where the WHOLE piece of glass in a filter is polarized instead of half of the glass. I love to take photos of clouds. Not the whole sky, but a small portion of it and I don't want HALF the sky polarized and the other half not. Yes I am only an amateur but I just asked a very simple question that seems to have been misunderstood. I don't want a horizon line to worry about. Will a solid ND filter then give me a nice blue sky??

Now, let's try this once again:

WHY do you want a polarizer that DOESN'T rotate? Please explain why one that doesn't would be an advantage?

 

[astroNikon]

Then please tell me what can I do to get beautiful blue in the sky when in reality the blue in the sky is washed out because of a hazy day or extremely thin cirrus clouds. Please don't say edit it in photoshop. I like the effect a polarizer gives when I use it for other photos that are not sky only

If the blue sky is covered up from haze or thin clouds .. then it's not there. It's best to wait for a day when it's clear to get the blue sky ... or am I missing something ??

 

[480sparky]

Then please tell me what can I do to get beautiful blue in the sky when in reality the blue in the sky is washed out because of a hazy day or extremely thin cirrus clouds. Please don't say edit it in photoshop. I like the effect a polarizer gives when I use it for other photos that are not sky only

Use a polarizer (that rotates!), and aim the camera at the part of the sky that's 90° from the sun. The blue sky is polarized the most at a 90° angle from the sun. Rotate the polarizer so the blue sky is darkened. Don't use too wide of a lens, as you will start to pick up portions of the sky that are less polarized in the image and you will end up with a 'band' of dark sky.

 

[bob*donna]

Right now in my neck of the woods about 1/4th of the sky is scattered with extremely thin cirrus clouds. Want the height of the clouds?? Aproximately 30,000 ft. Or in my terms: SCT300. The part that is not covered is a weak shade of blue. I would love to take a pic of those clouds but it all blends together and there is no definition. A polarizer would give me that definition BUT apparently I can't do that because I don't want to include the fricking trees.

 

[480sparky]

The height of the clouds isn't relevant. If you don't want the trees in the shot, stand somewhere else.

I have no idea why you think including the trees has anything to do with using the filter.

 

[bob*donna]

Thank you 480sparky for understanding what I'm trying to do!! I think everyone else is purposely trying to drive me insane
~Donna

 

[bob*donna]

480spary I was just being a smartass because someone else said "If the blue sky is covered up from haze or thin clouds .. then it's not there"

 

[astroNikon]

There a function in software called "cropping". It's in most of even basic software.
If you take a photo and don't want something in it, you can crop (or cut) it out like trees.

 

[bob*donna]

By the way, 480sparky, I'm a certified weather observer so looking at the sky and determining cloud cover and height is part of my job!

 

[480sparky]

480spary I was just being a smartass because someone else said "If the blue sky is covered up from haze or thin clouds .. then it's not there"

Sometimes, what you want to do just simply isn't possible. The sky can be so pale that even the highest-quality polarizer just cannot make it as dark as you want it to be no matter what you do. Physics will always trump our feeble machines.