PHOTOGRAPHY -10

 PHOTOGRAPHY -10

FILTERS…Continued

We are still in the domain of filters. A stunning ‘add-on’ gadget is the POLARISING FILTER or simply ‘The Polariser’. My humble submission is, while several kind of filters can be ‘dismissed off’ as items of Luxury’, a polariser would readily qualify for a Necessity.

It stands to reason to amplify on my statement –suggesting the relevance of Polarisers. All of us –whether into photography or not would certainly have noticed ‘nasty’ ball like irritating reflections –off painted objects or walls –serving an uninvited distraction in pictures. Photographers go about their primary work of capturing activity on an event, paying little attention to the structural culprits like painted walls, mirrors or painted metal almirahs and the like ; these are too close to the main act, to skip coverage or attention especially after casting a shiny reflection. So, a reflection is a natural outcome from shiny objects including spectacles worn by persons. A grand nuisance in pictures is reflection.

The issue of harsh reflections is an obtrusive interference in still photography, while the same would be readily accepted for ‘picture fidelity’ in movie/ videos. Normally, such reflections spring up from domestic situations when a couple of pictures are made in some rooms with such domestic containers freshly painted.

To be clear ‘harsh reflections’ from painted surfaces mean that more than one beam of light rays emerge from a spot and they keep intersecting resulting in shiny bright haze-like mass of light hitting the film/ image record. Consequently, a ball-like spot appears in photos causing distraction as well as destruction of peace in that picture.

The photographer cannot wish it away on all occasions. If such interference occurs in just one or two situations, it may not hamper the reputation of the worker. Instead if it remains a near permanent feature, it calls for elimination in the first place. Otherwise, it proves an intolerable distraction. In such instances, polarizer comes in handy to eliminate the reflection.

At this juncture, it is worthwhile to inform readers that SLR or DSLR is the best equipment to take the richest advantage of a ‘polarizer’.

A polarizer is a kind of flat, plane parallel tinted glass capable of ‘absorbing’ light rays traveling in a plane and thus eliminating the reflecting fraction of light.

As such, polarizer has two versions named LINEAR or CIRCULAR.

A linear polarizer has 1 glass disc; by rotating it all rays at right angles to its surface are absorbed, minimizing the quantum of reflection.

A circular polarizer has 2 tinted glass discs that can be rotated independently so as to cancel reflection; the rays are absorbed by the two discs independently to eliminate the entire reflection. Circular polarizer helps to totally ‘relieve’ the impact of reflection and helps better image quality free of vague light seeping in.

To continue….

Prof. K. Raman