When and when not to use a polarising filter

[Geoff McLeod]

I just finished a shoot and for many shots I used a polarising filter to help take the shine off the bald head of the actor. I began thinking to myself about all the times one might want to use a polariser - like when reflection is a problem, or you want more vivid colours from a subject. Then I began to also wonder, when not to use one - like when light is low, or simply the DOP might think it's not necessary. Are there many who shoot out in the daylight who don't use one? Would all DOPs reach for one instinctively if they were outside. Just wondering really.

 

[Marcus Struzina]

Definitely wouldn't reach for one instinctively when shooting outdoors, there are lots of times where the sparkle and sheen of reflective things, water, cars, roads, even leaves is useful for creating sparkle, contrast and texture to an image. That said the colour saturation increase and almost velvety feel you can get with fully polarising things again like foliage or buildings is often also a good thing. It's a case by case basis and everyones preferences are different. Recently shot an actor wearing an old leather jacket, the jacket completely changed from looking old without the polariser to new/softer/darker with the polariser. Worth watching out for.

 

[Geoff McLeod]

Interesting. Thanks Marcus. That is the very issue I was asking myself recently. Sometimes I've used a polariser because if felt I should, but like that old leather jacket you were filming, the effect of the filter changes the texture and mood. Sometimes I get caught up in following the rules without thinking about when I should break them. When I see picture of a camera rig from a big-budget movie, I sometimes notice that they aren't using a polariser. So this just got me thinking.

 

[Wey Wang]

The key thing to remember with a polarizer is to spin it once it's in. Also, if you have a circular polarizer (vs linear), that it's dropped in correctly.

As a general rule of thumb, I always shoot with a polarizer outside unless it's overcast. And I'll only drop it in inside if I'm trying to see through a window.

 

[Nick Gardner]

With the advent of fast cameras, polarizers have really come into their own. I had a director ask me why I was putting a pola up on an interior close up. I showed him how it was helping out on the shinyness on the actresses forehead and he was amazed. Now that we live in the future, we can do awesome things.

Nick

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

Camera pointed in one direction, adjust the polarizer, shoot - no problem.

Move the camera - such as panning with an actor outdoors - and watch how the clouds and sky in the background saturation shift and change in relation to each other - or if cloudless, how that blue changes during the move. Now that is going to be something the post guys will not forgive you for.

Great tool - use it well. But learn it first.

 

[Gary King]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but polarisers never go out of fashion . I have a few mist filters (black promist 1/4) - am I okay to stack them with a polariser, or would I be putting too much between the lens and the subject?

Thanks in advance,

Gary.

 

[Mark K.]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but polarisers never go out of fashion . I have a few mist filters (black promist 1/4) - am I okay to stack them with a polariser, or would I be putting too much between the lens and the subject?

Thanks in advance,

Gary.

I use Black Promists and a Polariser in combination all the time. It's no trouble at all.

 

[Ben Scott]

I only really ever use a pola when shooting through glass.

 

[Hal Long]

You can definitely use polas with diffusion up to a point. If the diffusion is heavy and the diffusion stage is in front of the pola (with a rota or interior rotating stage) then heavier diffusion prevents the pola from being as effective. I do like to use them outdoors don't tend to reach for polas on talent unless they're particularly shiny or some other aspect of the scene (sky, foliage, water, windows) merits a pola.

 

[Michael J Brennan]

The Schneider 1stop pol and 1stop tru pol are very handy if you need a subtle pola effect without losing 1 3/4 stops.

Mike Brennan

 

[Satsuki Murashige]

Discovered another good use for the Pola last month. Was shooting a job where we were shooting talent with a prompter through a large sheet of edge-illuminated plexiglass. The talent wrote on the plexi with fluorescing dry-erase pens. The background was solid black. We were getting reflection of the prompter text in the plexi. After dimming the prompter brightness and changing the font colors to acceptable levels for the talent, we were still getting a faint reflection where the text crossed the black background. We tried a Circular Pola on the lens and that took all of the reflection away. So sort of an unusual scenario, but it worked.

 

[Peter Moretti]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing Satsuki!!