Polarizing Filter Nikon

Any tips for a beginning photographer at the (North) Grand Canyon?

I have a Nikon D40. I have read that I should use a polarizing filter or UV filter, but that a polarizing filter can cause problems at wide angles (vignetting). How can I take good shots at wide angles without the polarizing filter?

Will vignetting only occur at the widest angle (18mm)?

Do I need to use a small aperture (large f/value) when shooting the scenery?

Any additional tips?

Vignetting really has nothing to do with what kind of filter you are using, it is a result of the FRAME of the filter being picked up by the lens at it’s widest angle. Now under certain conditions, a polarizer can render one area of the sky dark blue while having little to no effect on another area of the sky. A wide angle lens will promote this problem, but again, how bad the effect is just depends on Sun location and the focal length of the lens.

Keep in mind your camera has a sensor crop factor of 1.5, so your 18mm lens will have the effect of a 27mm lens in actual use. 27mm is not really an extreme wide angle, so you should have no problem with vignetting.

What you do NOT want to do is stack filters. Do not use the UV and polarizer filter together. Again, it is not the filter that causes the vignetting, it is the amount of filter frame that you will have on the front of the lens that could be picked up and show as dark patches in each corner of the photo.

To be extra safe, you can purchase SLIM filters. These filters are very thin. They are designed to help prevent vignetting with wide angle lenses.

So you should have no problems using either filter at your widest lens focal length which will in actuality only be 27mm… just don’t use both filters at the same time.

As far as aperture, yes, if you use a larger f stop, you will have more depth of field,.. i.e. more of the photo will be in focus in front of and behind your subject. But it is usually not wise to shoot at the lens smallest aperture, (largest f number). Even the very expensive pro lenses can have image quality issues at the smallest aperture. Best to shoot your lens a couple stops open from the smallest aperture. So if your lens has a max f number of 22, try shooting at f18 or f19 or f20. This is when a tripod will come in handy, because at this small aperture, the camera will set a slower shutter speed. I do not suggest you use any of the “scene” modes. Use aperture priority and watch that your shutter speed does not fall below about 1/60. If it does, you need a tripod. You could also raise your ISO to get faster shutter speed. The D40 has good clean images even at the higher ISO ranges, so don’t be afraid to use them. But if you are tripod mounted, might as well use a lower ISO for the absolute best quality. Also, use a remote release or the self timer when using a slow shutter speed. You pressing the shutter release button on the camera can cause blur at slow shutter speeds.

Try to plan your shoots at early morning or late afternoon hours, not in the middle of the day. You will get far more stunning shots with the sun in these positions and the resulting shadows in the canyons add to the effect to show dimension.

And as said in another answer, you are using digital. You can review your shots and histogram. But don’t be wasting time looking at each shot like a rank amateur. Just check your first in a series then shoot away, If the lighting or your position changes, you can review again. But the camera will do a good job of getting things right for you if you use aperture priority.

This could be a good opportunity to take some High Dynamic Range photos. Expose the same scene for shadows, then expose for the highlights and later combine the two in post processing for one great shot with detail in both the shadows and highlights.

You may also want to purchase a graduated neutral density filter. This filter is darker on the top with no filtration on the bottom. You can use it to tame down a bright sky and make the overall exposure between canyons and sky more of a match.

Hope this helps you some, have a good time!

steve

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