What does a polarising filter do?

It reduces reflections on non-metallic surfaces and can make skies and colours richer by blocking polarised light.

What should be considered for panoramas?

The polarising effect depends on the angle to the light source; across several pan positions a fixed setting can produce uneven brightness.

Polarising Filter Use

Category: Capture

The use of a polarising filter to reduce reflections, deepen colours and increase contrast – with particular considerations for panorama and gigapixel images.

A polarising filter reduces directional reflections on non-metallic surfaces such as water, glass or foliage and can make the sky deeper and colours richer. It works by selectively blocking polarised light.

For panorama and gigapixel images the filter must be used judiciously: because the polarising effect depends on the angle to the light source, a filter set identically across several pan positions can lead to uneven brightness – such as a blotchy-looking sky. In such cases the filter use is adapted to the capture situation or applied sparingly.