Query re polarising filters

[Dave_Hop]

I took a photograph at the weekend of sky, hills and trees reflected in a lake.

The reflection of the sky had better colour saturation than the real sky.

My question is; would a polarising filter have given better colour saturation to the sky and could this have adversely affected the reflection in the lake?

Thanks in advance


Dave

[taxor]

Dave,
Using a polariser might have enhanced the sky. It really depends on where the sun is. Maximum polarisation is usually at right angles to the direction of the sun. Also, polarisers are used for eliminating unwanted reflection and glare, so you may well destroy the reflection in the lake. A better solution might be to use an ND (neutral density) grad filter to darken the sky, thus retaining the saturation of the foreground.

[Dave_Hop]

Thanks for that. Are ND filters ever screw-in or are they always the 'Cokin' type?

Dave

[Fen]

Problem with screw-in NDs is that the grad is always in the same place.

Much better to go for the Cokin types

[taxor]

Much better to go for the Cokin types

Seconded!

[turbulentwheat]

funny, only recently I asked a nikon rep on an after-sales board about the cokins for my D40X for the same reason as here, keeping foreground and enhancing sky. What I'm still not sure about even though this is supposedly from a nikon 'rep' he suggested the A series, yet I've read somewhere that the P series is better for AF-S type lens/cams. So I'm still undecided unless someone here can explain why the one is better suited than the other.

[Benchista]

The A series is suitable for lenses with smaller filter threads, the P series for larger ones. If in doubt, P makes more sense - but is a little dearer.

[SqueamishOssifrage]

I have just recently had to supplement my P series with an A series for my standard (50mm) lens, because the area of gradation on the P series was too large for a small lens. I couldn't find a suitable adapter to move the P mount far enough away from the lens to be useable. This is worth bearing in mind when buying a Cokin mount.

[ogofmole]

If you can't get the effect you want using a polarising filter, then I will take a couple of shots under and over exposing and merge then together in photoshop.

[Dave_Hop]

Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to reply.

Dave