Will a polarizing filter help reduce blown highlights on white fur in direct sun?
Asked 5/4/2015
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I’m trying to help a friend photograph a bright white cat outdoors in direct sunlight. The cat often turns into a blown-out white patch, or the camera exposes for the cat and leaves the surroundings too dark. Since the fur is sleek and somewhat shiny rather than fluffy, I wondered whether a circular polarizer might reduce reflections from the fur enough to help. Does a polarizer meaningfully affect light reflected from white fur, or is this mainly an exposure/metering problem?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
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There are two components to the light being reflected off the fur. The predominant one is likely diffuse scattering. A polarizer won't help with that. There may be some more "reflection" looking sheen, especially if the light is coming from somewhat behind the cat. That probably is polarized, so a polarizing filter should be able to accentuate or attenuate it, depending on how the filter is rotated.
However, the fundamental problem is a small bright thing in a large and much darker picture. That's not going to get exposed properly by the automatic algorithms in most cameras. One way or another, you have to expose so that the brightest part of the cat doesn't saturate the sensor. Yes, the surrounding scene will then seem darker, but this is quite fixable with non-linear brightening in post-processing. A logarithmic sloshing towards the bright end usually works well for scenes with high contrast, but only if the information was properly captured (the bright parts aren't blown).
There are several ways with most cameras to expose so that the bright parts aren't blown. You can use center spot metering, push the button partway with the cat in center (this freezes the exposure), then frame as desired and snap by pushing the button all the way. Some cameras have a mode that looks at many spots and exposes for the brightest. Or you can use the brute force method and just set the automatic exposure compensation to -2 or something. Just don't forget to set it back when you're done photographing the cat.
Originally by user7603. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user7603
11y ago
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A polarizer can affect some of the sheen from sleek fur, but it usually won’t solve this problem.
Light from white fur is mostly diffuse scatter, and a polarizer has little effect on that. It may reduce or increase some specular shine depending on the fur angle, sun angle, and filter rotation, but that’s only part of what you’re seeing.
The bigger issue is exposure range: a very bright white subject in direct sun against a darker scene often fools automatic metering. A polarizer also cuts much of the whole scene by around 1–2 stops, so it tends to darken everything rather than selectively tame the white fur. In practice, that’s the opposite of what you want.
The better approach is to expose to protect the brightest fur highlights from clipping, then brighten the darker surroundings afterward if needed. If the camera allows it, use exposure compensation or spot metering on the cat. Softer light or shade would help even more.
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