Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

24 25 January 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Johnwrotein aboutthisshot,butthepeoplearenotasclosetothewavesastheyseemtobe

Back in the day

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This

week we pay a visit to January 1914

Two contrasting seascapes were discussed by the AP critic

THISWEEK’Scovermodelalsogracedthecovertwo
weeksearlier.PerhapstheEditor,FJMortimer,hadthe
hotsforherbut,asshewaswearingthesamedress,a
morelikelyexplanationis thathewastryingtosqueeze
maximumvalueoutof a photoshoot.Ourpublisher
wouldhaveapproved.Sixmonthsbeforethestartof
thebiggestglobalconflictin historytheburningtopics
thatvexedAPreadersincludedtheproliferationof
‘cheapandnasty’plates,methodsof storingnegatives,
andthemeritsof sulphidetoning.A regularserieson
theA toZ of photographicchemistryreachedthe
letterP, withinstructionsforthemixingandusageof
PotassiumPhosphate,PotassiumPermanganateand
PyrogallicAcid.Meanwhile,theCriticismsof Readers’
Printspagecomparedanddissectedtwocontrasting
seascapes– stillarguablythemostpopularsubjectof
today’sreaders.‘Analysisbycomparisonmaynotbe
themostintellectualwayof consideringpictorial
efforts,’opinedtheunnamedcritic,‘butit is oneof the
mostuseful,asit clearsthementalatmosphereby
directing consideration to one aspect only at a time.’

1914

YOUR LETTERS

Iamdisappointed

byCanon’s

suggestionthat‘other

parties’shouldestablish

whichfiltertypeis required.

Whobetterthana

manufacturertostate

whichtypetheircameras

require?I believethatthe

‘style’of photographyhas

nothingtodowiththis,

andI amnotalonein my

opinionthatcircularly

polarisedfiltersseem

muchlesseffectivethan

thetraditionallinearly

polarisedvariety.

TonyDrummond-

Murray

IndefenceofCanon,

companiesin generalare

reluctanttogiveadvice

aboutproductsthatthey

donotmakethemselves,

andthisalsoincludes

third-partylenses.

Buttoansweryour

question,when

autofocus35mmSLRs

wereintroduced,

photographerswere

advisedtoreplaceall

theirexistingpolarisers

withexpensivecircular

polarising(C-PL)filters.

Thereasonis thatthe

lightthat’spassedbya

linearpolariseris,by

definition,polarised.But

becausemirrorsreflect

lightdifferently

dependingonits

polarisation,thiscan

causeproblemswithan

SLR’sautoexposureand

autofocus systems, which

measurelightreflected

offeitherthemainreflex

mirror,orthesub-mirror

behindit.Circular

polariserseliminatethis

problem.However

mirrorlessandcompact

camerasusetheimage

sensoritselfforAEand

AF,sologicallythey

shouldworkjustfine

withcheaperlinear

polarisers.

However,thereis a

complication,asthe

opticallow-passfilters

usedbysomedigital

cameras(includingthe

CanonEOSM6MarkII)

alsorelyontheincoming

lightnotbeingpolarised.

Soif youusea linear

polariser,youmightin

somesituationssee

increasedimage

artefactssuchasfalse

colourandmoiré.

However,withmirrorless

camerasthatdon’tuse

opticallow-passfilters,

linearandcircular

polarisersshouldin

principlegive

indistinguishable

results.Inpractice,

however,allthebest

p o l a r i s i n g fi l t e r s

currentlyonthemarket

areofthecirculartype.

Theyusepolarising

materialswiththe

highestlight

transmission,andemploy

multi-layercoatingson

bothsurfacesto

eliminatereflections.So

it’s still generally better

tobuythemanyway

• AndyWestlake,
  TechnicalEditor

S a f e t y fi r s t

AsanavidreaderI was

slightlytakenabackwhen

readingthefeature 101

photographstotakebefore

youdie(AP,4 January).

Theshotof thestorm-

blastedlighthouseshowed

a numberof personswho

hopefullyweretakingthe

lastof their 101 shots,asit

certainlycouldhavebeen!

Bypublishingthispictureit

wouldappearthatAP

condonesphotographers

puttingtheirlivesat risk,

nottomentionthelivesof

therescueservices.I do

thoroughlyenjoyyour

magazineandamnotone

forwritinglettersbutfeel

thatit is importantnotto

putyourlifeorthelivesof

othersat riskforthe sake

of a photograph.

JohnGirrity

Thephotographer,

MatthewHorwood,tells

us,‘It’sdeceptive– the

picturewastakenwitha

500mmlensfittedwith

1.4xconverter,sothe

peoplearenotasclose

tothewavesasthey

appear.‘ However,you

raisea goodpointandof

coursereadersshould

alwaysbesensiblewhen

outandabout

photographingin these

conditions–Nigel

Atherton, editor

© MATTHEW HORWOOD / GETT Y IMAGES