Why You Need a Polarizer on Your Camera Lens.

A Polarizer is a slightly colored lens that makes a HUGE difference in your photographs. This is the most important filter you can place on your lens.

Think of a polarizer like sunglasses. On a bright sunny day, take off your sunglasses and look around. Everything is super bright, it hurts your eyes to look. Look at the colors, they are blah, flat, uninteresting. Bright sunny days are the hardest day to take photos on because of this harsh light and flat colors.

Polarizer to the rescue. The first thing you will need to know is that when you put on your polarizer, you can turn the filter to get a different look. If you hold it up to the light alone, you wont notice any color differences but when you rotate it on your lens you will see some different results. This is because the coloring differs so slightly but allows for greater or less light to come in through your filter. So put it on. Notice that the filter has two rings, One which screws into your lens ( or UV filter ) and the second ring freely rotates. This is so you can turn your polarizer up and down. Perhaps its most important job is the effect on colors. It deepens blues and greens, making them seem more vibrant and alive. It makes reds and yellows more rich.

Its second feature is to cut glare and reflections. If you take a photo of a lake, by rotating the polarizer you can remove reflections from it, even see through the water in shallow areas. This tool can also help reduce glare off peoples glasses.

Because a polarizer cuts the amount of light coming into the lens, its not useful inside. It makes your image dark and inside where the light is already much dimmer then outside, it can slow your camera down so much you cant take a clear photo without flash.

This is one filter where cheaper isn't always better. You can find many inexpensive polarizers on Amazon or Ebay. But i encourage you to look at more expensive brands. They tend to have a smoother color transition and clearer results. Tiffen is a brand i have heard spoken highly of.

So remember, Next time you are out for a walk or hike, wherever you would take landscape photographs. Make sure each lens is equipped with a polarizing filter so you are sure you can get the best color and contrast on your photographs.