You have heard me say that we never want to use a polarizer filter on a wide or ultra-wide lens when the sky is included. I am not going to go into the reasoning here since you can search and find the blogs I wrote about that on this site. Even though this is true, that does not mean that we never use a polarizer on a wide or ultra-wide lens. In fact, I always use one even on these lenses when the sky is not included, the only exception being when shooting directly into the sun or directly opposite the sun.

Here we have a wet rock-race. The reflection from the sky killed this image. In addition to the rock-face we also have water reflecting the sky. So you might say, well the water looks really good and the rock-face is not that bad. Well, that is because I used a polarizer. Without a polarizer you would have thrown this image away. The polarizer did a fantastic job at minimizing the reflections.

          Polarizers also help to minimize the sheen on leaves. Thus in turn helps to saturate the color of the leaves. Polarizers work wonders in forests and in scenes like this. Just remember not to include the sky in the image if you are combing a polarizer with a wide or ultra-wide angle lens.

          Please do yourself a favor and buy a very good polarizer. It makes no sense to use an expensive lens with a cheap filter in front. Your lens can never be any better than the filter you attach to it as that filter determines the quality of light that your lens sees. Personally I prefer Scotts Glass filters in brass rings. Please do yourself an even bigger favor and never buy any screw-on filter of any kind that is not in a brass ring. Other rings will stick to your lenses and they can be a nightmare to get off. This is true especially of polarizer filters as the front element rotates thereby minimizing the grip you can get on it to remove it from your lens. You just don't have this problem with brass filters. Struggling out in the field to get a filter off of the lens when wearing gloves is a recipe to drop a lens.

          Be out in nature more and enjoy your photography.