E.J. Peiker looks into the LB Warming Polarizer during his recent Alaska trip

Nature and landscape photographs by E.J. Peiker have appeared in the leading nature and photography magazines for a number of years, so it's a pleasure to post these three images he made in Alaska recently. During the trip, E.J. was checking out the Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer and had some important things to say.

"I recently started using the Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer -- the LB standing for 'lighter and brighter.' Singh-Ray has come up with a polarizer that requires 2/3 of a stop less light than a standard polarizer. The photo above of a male Brown Bear was taken at the famous Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park in Southwest Alaska. I was using my Canon EOS 1D Mark II with a 70-200mm f/2.8L and the LB Warming Polarizer.

"Like anything," says E.J. "this LB feature has both its pros and cons but there are many more pros than cons. The upside of a brighter polarizer is huge. Some of the benefits are obvious and some less so. Just having more light, thereby allowing faster shutter speeds for a given aperture, can often lead to sharper photos as subject motion becomes less of a factor. A 2/3-stop faster shutter speed can be the difference between a sharp flower in a breeze and one that is blurred. It can be the difference between stopping slight head movement of a wildlife subject or having a slight blur. Landscape photographers often work in the relatively low light of early morning or late evening, but we still want some of the benefits of polarization. This often leads to the autofocus system either giving up or becoming slow and somewhat inaccurate.

"The first thing I noticed when using the LB Polarizer with my EOS 1Ds Mark II is that the autofocus was snappier in these situations and allowed me to accurately focus in light conditions where I was having to manually focus before. Faster and more accurate AF and faster shutter speeds in these situations are a big bonus. Additionally I can use the increased light transmission properties of the LB Warming Polarizer to select a lower and less noisy ISO than I could get away with using a traditional polarizer.

"The only con is that sometimes I like to use a polarizer for both its polarizing and neutral density qualities. For example when photographing little cascades or waterfalls, I like to cut the wet reflections off of the rocks with the polarizing function and slow my shutter speed down a normal polarizer’s 2 full stops to get that wispy water feeling in the photos. With the LB polarizer, you can’t slow your shutter speed as much since it allows more light to transmit to the sensor plane. This however is a minor issue as there are always other tools in the bag to deal with that -- such as ND flters. The Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter is a very flexible option for this sort of thing. Here are two landscape images, both were taken on the same trip with the LB Warming Polarizer.

"While walking back from a late night trek up the Brooks River in waders, the sky started to light up around 11:00 PM, giving the puffy clouds a nice pink color. I used the LB Warming Polarizer on a Canon 24-105 f/4L lens mounted to an EOS 1Ds Mark II to make the cloud pop off of the blue sky in the warm late light.

"This is the view from the our campground at Katmai National Park captured in the early morning just before sunrise. A Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with 24-105 f/4L lens and Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer was used to increase contrast while retaining some pink color on the water and enhancing the pink/blue contrast in the sky.

"While I would prefer that the LB Warming Polarizer came in a non-warming version, having the slightly warm tone is not a problem. It is very easy to dial out the warming when not desired with white balance either in camera or in post processing. Overall the LB warming polarizer has quickly become my polarizer of choice."

In addition to his photography, E.J. is co-founder and technical editor for NatureScapes.net and his personal website -- www.EJPhoto.com -- featuring over 8000 photographs of landscapes, wildlife and birds from around the world. He's also recognized for what many consider the world's largest collection of waterfowl photographs.