Lens Effects: UV Haze, ND and Polarizer

Landscape photographers have, many times, to fight with haze to get their photographs. Software tools offer, these days, some interesting options to solve the problem, when back home. Some even offer a whole “suite” that photographers will appreciate.

This article was born from a recent session using the tools from Topaz Labs Lens Effects, for a group of images shot mid-morning on a hazy day. The technical aspects are all in one article published at ProVideo Coalition, under the same name — Lens Effects: UV Haze, ND and Polarizer — while the photographs and some extra info reside here. It’s a second experience in terms of cross platform writing, as I did with a previous article, as I think seeing the images larger helps to fully understand the subject discussed.

The photographs published here were created recently, when I took a group of people to visit the dune ridges system at Cresmina, near the international surf spot Guincho, in Portugal. The wooden paths created over the dunes in recent years, allowing visitors to explore the area without much disturbance to the habitat, make for a great photographic vantage point, in an area which openly invites you to create panoramas. Besides, the sand dunes offer some unique compositions to explore, meaning a visit incorporates both documentary, aesthetic and artistic elements.

I took three series of photos simply to show participants the potential of the panorama technique to allow them to take home BIG landscape images of the area, instead of small wide-angle single photos.

I shot the images without thinking much about them, as I merely wanted to show participants the results on the camera’s LCD, to explain them the process. It was only later I decided I could use them for one article at ProVideo Coalition, as the hazy day created the ideal conditions to show how you can go from what looked like a dull photograph to something that attracts the viewer’s attention.

The workflow explained

The original panorama, built from 13 different photos. as many as the users present at my Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk, October 3, 2015.

The UV Haze filter in Topaz Labs Lens Effects is the first step to change the panorama

The Graduated Neutral Density filter allows to darken the sky, just as a filter in front of the lens would do, and is as controllable as the physical filter

The Polarizing filter helps to enhance the skies and get more color out of the sand and vegetation

Finally I open the image in another program from Topaz Labs, Topaz Clarity, which is my preferred “last touch” software

The three panoramas created then are shown here with around 2000 pixels on the longer size, although the originals are much bigger, allowing to create huge prints. They complement a series I already did at Cresmina, and which can be found in my article Cresmina: The “Walking” Dune where the same technique is applied to multiple views of the place.

Although in my article at ProVideo Coalition I mention different software available to remove haze from photographs, a subject that may interest many outdoor photographers, I also expand the article to show some of my workflow, which uses Topaz Labs Lens Effects to effectively enhance some of my outdoor photography. For that I use what I call a “suite” of tools present in the program: UV Haze, Graduated Neutral Density and Polarizing. Read the article to know what they can do for your photography.