There are times when we need a polarizer to remove reflections that when applied, adversely effects the sky. Polarizers work using physics and when it comes to the sky, when those physics aren’t perfect, you see a dark blob in the sky where the polarizer is only effecting part of the sky (2nd image). Seeing this in the viewfinder can be at times, difficult and others, impossible.
One real easy way to see the “Blob” is using the LiveView on your camera. You can see above the simple example. The LCD shows off the “blob” really dramatically making it really easy to see it. But we still need to remove the reflection so what do we do? Using the LiewView, we polarize fully and then slowly rotate the polarizer to “unpolarize” as much as needed to remove the “blob” while maintaining as much reflection removal on the subject. You might be wondering if there is a post processing fix. Sure, but it’s so painful it’s not worth your time IMHO. No, it’s not a perfect solution but it’s the one I turn to. Thought it might help.
