Am I terrible for shooting everything through a polarizer?

[jmowreader]

Last weekend I covered the Ironman race for my newspaper. I used two cameras - a Nikon D810 with 28-70 f/2.8 and a D500 with 80-200 f/2.8 Nikon lenses. The 28-70 has a B&W polarizer on it, the 80-200 didn't at the time.

Well...while sorting through the 700-odd images I shot to come up with a couple dozen to send to Editorial, I noticed the ones off the D810 were way better than the ones off the D500. So just as a test, I put the short lens on the D500 and went back out to shoot crowd photos...which were way better than the race photos I'd shot earlier in the day. Much more colorful.

This morning the other B&W polarizer arrived and I immediately screwed it into the long lens.

[elleng]

1. No, but it's been years since I used one;

'lost' an old Nikon years ago, and had several lenses; now I 'just' have Nikon Coolpix P900.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. You aren't terrible.

It's just not necessary. Just remember, you lose a full stop of exposure by using one. Anything a polarizer can do, lightroom can do in a jiffy and you aren't losing that stop.
I stopped using polarizers at least 20 years ago.
If it makes you feel your images are better, go for it!!

[jmowreader]

4. If I was shooting on ISO 25 film, I'd be worried about that stop

But on a DSLR, you can compensate by just upping the ISO.

[Pobeka]

3. In the age of digital I stopped using a polarizer, except for eliminating reflections.

Polarizers really do nasty things to a clear blue sky, it looks very unnatural.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

5. I don't use them anymore either.

I would use a polarizer if I was shooting through water or glass. I use the "dehaze" tool in Adobe Camera Raw or a gradient tool to enhance my skies.

[Ferrets are Cool]

6. That dehaze tool is amazing in LR and ACR.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

8. It's all amazing.

I built my first darkroom in 1970. I'm continually amazed at what we can do with Photoshop and other programs today.

[Ferrets are Cool]

9. I started a bit later than you.

My first darkroom experience was in 1989. I first used PS in 1994 with ver. 3. I went totally digital in 99 and ever looked back. Today, I am a real estate photographer and use PS and LR daily.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

10. 👍👍👍

I think I started using Photoshop Elements around 2000. I had an Amiga 2000 computer in the 90s and used a program called Deluxe Paint on scanned photos.

[Major Nikon]

7. Under the right conditions a polarizer works great

When the sun is to your right or left, but still bright, a polarizer works wonders by darkening skies and giving you more saturation. Yes you can do these things in post, but no it's not the same.

[ManiacJoe]

11. Just leaving it on the lens forever is probably a bad thing.

Late to the party......

Polarizing filters are for a specific purpose. Like any other filter, if you are not using it for a photographic purpose, you are better off removing it.

[jmowreader]

12. Polarized images look better in the newspaper

And since that’s where most of my pictures go, shooting everything that way has a photographic purpose.

[ManiacJoe]

13. You may be correct for your specific case.

Only you can make that decision.