polarizer in fog, rain, clouds

[allanrube]

I am going on a trip - leaving in a few minutes. The forecast calls for cloudy, fog, rain. Would a polarizing filter be a help or hindrance in these situtations.

Think boat on foggy lake, coastline on a rainy afternoon.

If possible please answer through email as I will have limited internet access and may not check the here.

allanrube@gmail.com

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Allan, I've sent you an e-mail but I'll post my reply here too for learning purposes (myself included).

Personally I wouldn't/don't use a polarizing filter for these conditions. In foggy conditions just make sure to expose for the (far) right - you'll want the fog to look almost white so add lots of positive EC. Don't be scared to raise the ISO if you need additional SS. You can then deal with the contrast and other tweaks to the midtones in PS. Nothing more bland than too gray-looking foggy photographs. Good luck on your boat trip, hoping to see some beautiful photographs!!

If anyone else has other ideas, or think a polarizer can be good please post it here after e-mailing Allan :-)

[Charles Glatzer]

Allan,

I agree with Daniel....any minor benefit will be negated by the two stop loss in EV, and need for higher ISO.

Best,

Chas