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Image Description

Photographed from the summit of Germany’s highest peak, Zugspitze in November 2024, this image captures the quiet beauty of the Alps in early morning light. The layered ridgelines and distant peaks reflect the vastness and calm of the high mountains. I used a circular polarizer to reduce atmospheric haze, and reduce the glare from the snow.

Feedback Requests

I don’t have much experience with using filters of any kind. Do you think the use of a cpl was a good choice in this situation?

Pertinent Technical Details

Sony A7iii, Tamron 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3
iso 500 , f/9, 1/320 sec, 70mm

Matthew, this is a great look at a lot of very rugged mountains. The polarizer is a good option for a longer lens (like this) when it will reduce the reflections and darken the blues in the sky. It does work best at right angles to the sun. In this case, it probably lets us see more detail in the mountains, but it hasn’t done much to darken the sky because you were pointing close to the sun. If you have a shot without the polarizer or with it rotated, you’ll see that this view is an improvement.

I agree with @Mark_Seaver’s comments. Polarizers can be tricky, but in this case, it worked well.

@matthew4: Did you actually climb Zugspitze? If so, well done!

If I had one minor nit, it would be the rock in LLC. It grabs my eye. Perhaps a crop? Just a thought.

This is a nice image, and the light is gorgeous.
-p

Thank for the info! I’ll keep that in mind the next time I use a polarizer.

@Preston_Birdwell I unfortunately did not climb to the summit. My wife and I took the gondola up in order to get up there while the light was still good. One day I will climb it though as it’s been on my bucket list since I was a teenager.