graduation part 2

Here is a sample showing what happens when the meter is free to pick exposure. It's a mixed bag, as the skies are far better with the filter (left) and it helps to liven up the tree blossoms! On the other hand note how the grass is more washed out - the lower left needs some help or some cropping. The unfiltered shot has more tonal balance, but sky and blossoms are less snappy. Clearly this is something one can work on with exposure, and especially with RAW images. Since these were sample shots I just went with jpeg here, but in more highly-valued shooting I would have the RAW shots to recover some of the foreground.

If one just wanted blue skies, the polarizer would still be a great choice for this shot - I did not try that out with these images. I believe it was in my bag, but I was coming home from a long week of work so didn't do the extra effort. Next time!