Images that move
This scene was captured at Wolfe's pond. Those of you who like me live in Staten island probably know this large lake sits at the near southern end of the island. In fact the Atlantic Ocean lies right on the other side of those trees in this photo. This was my first trip getting to use my brand new Polar Pro filters on a high dynamic range scene like this.
Being isolated along the southern coast of the island so close to the ocean makes the weather and accompanying lighting quite varied and occasionally a bit unpredictable (and wonderful). The animals you'll find here are equally hard to predict. One time I found a half dozen osprey's feeding right at this part of the lake. Hours later a quarter of a mile down dozens of white egrets feeding in the shallows. On another day, a pair of nesting swans swimming gracefully in the moody early morning fog. Other days nothing but mud and muck, and no life whatsoever.
Its near impossible to predict what you'll get and I only bring gear I have absolute faith in on my sojourns here because its a long trip from my house and if the gear fails me in a moment of need, after coming all this way, who knows if the lake will ever give me a second chance at the same shot.
My first attempt at capturing these type of shots at this lake can be viewed about 10 images before these ones - taken a few months before, they were composed differently due that unpredictable nature of the lake. In those shots I used no filters on them other than a polarizer to remove excess reflections off the water running around the rocks as well as the rocks themselves. But those high dynamic range scenes resulted in giant white blobs where the sun and colorful sky around it used to be, and what would have been my favorite shot of the day (the black and white image of a pair of geese flying off into the sun) was reduced to a merely run of the mill image instead. The very next day I ordered my Polar Pro filter kit and vowed not to come back here again for this type of image until I had tested these new filters out at the lake near my house first. Then I would return here to get the shot right this time, if I was happy with their performance at Clove Lakes. But more about those filters later.
When it comes to the subject of high dynamic range landscapes I've noticed many photographers align themselves staunchly into one of two camps. Those that only edit those kind of shots in post, and those that do so in camera. Now if you've read many of the tales I've scattered amongst my photographs here in my numoruos online galleries you might not be surprized that I've taken a more neutral stance, as I find solid merit with both camps. But like with so many other photography disciplines, I don't believe letting absolutes rule your picture taking decisions, is a good idea. Pliable objects can often bend to perfectly fit the situation at hand, ridged ones break instead.
Those that believe the old school purist way of getting as much as humanly possible right in camera, certainly to me isn't a bad idea at all. However when it comes to the afore mentioned HDR scenes, you may find yourself having to bring some pretty big pieces of extra equipment with you in order to do that in the presence of some kind of filter system.
Now if you have to hike a mile or two to get to your location (like I do with this one, depending on my method of transportation getting here) and your bags are already breaking your back before you set foot out the door, or likewise if you've filled every spare pocket of your camera bag with other things already....well then you probably will have some serious decisons ahead of you on what stuff your sadly going to leave home this time.
Add to that unpleasantness the argument that if you choose to alter your landscapes appearance in camera with a filter, that there's no way to undo it if you change your mind later. Also every piece of glass you add to the ones already in front of your camera's sensor will help degrade your image (well they sure as heck will if they are cheap filters). But a polarizer is one of the most indispensable pieces of photo gear for any photographer, and no one quibbles about using them. Just like anything else putting a cheap inexpensive filter in front of an expensive lens is self-defeating. Buy quality.
All these very valid arguments have those photographers who hate filter systems shooting all their high dynamic range landscapes using exposure blending. The results are fantastic, and much more natural then the old HDR method, which was very stylized. Quite nice, but slightly unnatural looking none the less. Looking at my scenic gallery for the most part, one might logically assume I'm one of them, as my high dynamic range scenes were also done in HDR. But no, I actually wanted another filter system for years, but never found one that satisfied all my requirements.
The reason I kept searching for a workable filter system all these years despite me agreeing with all their valid arguments is simple - what if you want to capture a scene that has moving elements in it??? Variety is the spice of life, and if all your high dynamic range shots are exposure blended, nothing in it can be moving from one frame to the next but clouds and water, and that makes for a very (lonely?) bunch of images.
The only difference between this shot and the one just before it is the first one has no moving elements in it while this one has a great blue heron flying by in the middle of the scene. But that lone heron makes all the difference in the world to the impact of the scene. People love both shots, but you can see it in the look in their eyes and on their faces, that this is the image that really moves them.
Static shots can be quite beautiful, but a gallery full of them is monotonous. A great way to spice up a scene like this is with a hint of movement. There IS no other way to capture a scene like this UNLESS you use a filter system. If you shoot a scene with the sun directly inside the frame without it either you exposure blend and remove all moving objects from the scene before or after you shoot (preferably before) or you do what I did previously and keep them in a single exposure and live with a bleached out sun, which is the very definition of negative space.
I tired of either option, and wanted to add life back into my HDR scenes. To find one I needed a way to carry the big filter system with me outside my already full bags. Most of my many bags are made by Lowe pro, and they have a great modular system which allows you to easily add a wide variety of optional small bags and pouches to them. One of which is a fantastic filter holder that can hold a great deal of filter equipment. It easily holds all my Polar pro filters as well all the necessary step up, step down rings. Then the holder itself I slip into the section they designed to hold your laptop.
As far as quality goes, the best filters I ever had for quite some time I probably brought at Ken Hansen photo 25 years ago, made by a German company that cost over a hundred dollars each. The filter holder was all metal, weighed a ton, and the glass filters were twice as thick as these new Polar pros, and were no picinc to carry around either. Aaaand were difficult to slide up and down in the filter holder, and had no practical way to use them in conjunction with a polarizer.
Impractical to be sure, but ooh the quality. ( The very first image in this gallery was taken over 30 years ago on Fuji 50 slide film using a pair of those old graduated filters, one on the bottom for the water, and another one on top for the sky. No such thing as post processing back then with slide film, so I am well versed in having to get everything right in camera, believe me when I say....)
But my new filters easily beats them. These quartz glass filters are better coated against reflections, and allow no light leak in between them, and at a fraction of the wieght. Have the strength type for each kind of filter etched on nice protective frames all around them, instead of being painted on. My fingers wiped away the info on my old ones years and years ago, and now I'd have to guess which filter it is. And this system at least has some kind of hood to help mitigate stray side lighting.
This system also allows me to use a polorizer, graduated filter and neutral density filter all at once, which believe it or not is a feature that is very useful in the field and not just a sales gimick.
There are quite a few really good systems out there nowadays, and I took several months deciding which one to finally purchase. Wine Country's system was a real strong contender, but it lacks any kind of hood, and after watching a video from Alaskan pro photographer Jeff Schultz ( which went a long way in aiding in my decision) discovered it vignettes when using lenses wider than 19 millimeters which was a non starter for me.
Now Wine Country does make a scaled up version for wide angle lenses that works even on super wide lenses with bulbous fronts, but if your one of those people who can't stand adding bulk to your backpack, and hates the thought of bringing along my new system, then you'd have a hairy fit when you take one look at that one.
Lee the long time filter leader redesigned their system well enough to finally make me really consider long and hard about buying it, and I may add it to my filter system collection some day, as their filter hood is a dream for scenic photographers, best filter hood by a mile. But if your investing in a filter system as opposed to using nice small single screw on filters, dollars to donuts it's because you constantly find yourself shooting into the sun, and have to constantly use a graduated filter because of it. In shots like that a lens hood won't matter worth a fig. Just the glass you've got in front of your camera's sensor.
Personally that's not the situation that I want to stick a resin filter in front of my expensive lens on, even an optically superior one, which I'm certain Lee's are. I just won't settle for anything that isn't glass, and this is just a $1200 lens I used on this shot. Don't even get me started about what I think you should want in front of your $3000 one. This new system will not compromise anything I shoot with now or in the future, and I plan on adding some pretty pricey stuff after I retire.
But in the end I just can't tell you what brand will be best for you, as which system will most suit your needs will depend a great deal on what type of scenics you shoot most, and the size and weight tolerances your particular circumstances tend to allow. But I can say that if you really want to move the people who view your high dynamic range shots, do get one of these systems and start adding some life back into those scenes.
sld 13Wolfe's pondStaten IslandsummerscenicNYCsunrisesilhouettes
