32mm f/1.4 lens + CPL -- Beachside Backdrops (PICS)

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter. - "The Haven" Beach at Terrigal

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Yesterday I had to do a little pre-Christmas shopping and it took me to a beach-side location near Terrigal (NSW, Australia) where I wanted to buy a gift voucher from a restaurant there. I've tested a few lenses here in the past and it's often been the source of interesting scenes and wildlife shots for me. I've photographed the birds, octopus, squid, fishermen, sunsets, sunrises and meals on this tiny little beach here over the years so I thought it would offer some colorful backdrops . I've routinely photographed some of my Christmas gifts for other people and I wanted to take a few pictures by the ocean. Unfortunately, when I walked down to the beach I got some stares from sunbathers who initially seemed concerned that I was there on the beach with a camera. Small as the camera was, the tripod made me a little more obvious. They ignored me when they saw what I was doing; dangling jewellery in front of the lens and trying to hold a reflector in the breeze.
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Sand...
The worst thing about shooting on a beach is the sand. If it gets on your screen or your lens you'll scratch these surfaces when you attempt to clean them... or (worse) into the mechanisms of the camera (dials, switches, lens etc) and then you're in trouble. As it was I brought a brush and a puffer with me and I still ended up with sand in my pockets which then migrated to the seat of my car and so I had to vacuum it all out carefully lest it end up ruining optics etc. My worst fear would be to have sand embedded in a microfiber cleaning cloth.
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When I first bought this lens I wanted to conduct some tests with the EF 32mm f/1.4 STM lens by the ocean in sunlight with a Circular Polarizing Filter. But the weather has been difficult or I've been busy. Last week I purchased a set of earrings in the city from one of the jewellers that I wrote about in a recent post. They were made by an internationally renowned enamel artist and thought I'd take some pictures for the jeweler since she usually makes a visual record of her finished pieces... but appeared to have only captured this one when it was partially completed (and just out of the kiln firing process}. I'll try to get back to this beach in the next two weeks where I'll photograph it from a higher vantage point using the same lens and filter. Will post the results here when I do and I ought to be ready to write up a user-review of this lens shortly when I get that last shot.
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M6 + EF 32mm f/1.4 STM + Hoya Fusion CPL filter. - interesting colors at this location.

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During half an hour shooting on the beach, a Pelican kept approaching me every time I put the earrings down and I later realized that the silver backings and shiny appearance probably made them look like small fish dangling on fish hooks. The fishermen here have a tradition of feeding off-cuts of their catch to the pelicans at the end of the day ...so I had to keep a close eye on the bird and he was joined by several more before I was done.
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I had three subjects to photograph...
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* Ocean Themed Silver, Gold + Stainless Enameled Earrings.
* Canadian Club Spiced Whiskey Bottle.
* Crown Bourbon-Aged Artisan Quality Maple Syrup
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The items I used were:
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* Canon EOS M6 camera. (images shot in JPEG)
* EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens (with EF-60F) lens hood.
* 43mm HOYA "Fusion" Circular Polarizing filter.
* Manfrotto Carbon Fiber tripod.
* Inexpensive handheld foil reflector (silver backed side only)
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I'd previously photographed the same earrings at the jewellers last week but the closeup images were problematic with such a thin DOF at f/1.4 at any three-quarter angle. The colors were also muted under artificial indoor lighting. A solution would be to shoot them with a smaller aperture but I'd like to use the lens at f/1.4 to diffuse the background with a soft blur. Hence the beach shots below. The colors of the ocean backdrop complimented the ocean hues of the earrings quite well, especially with the color transition on both the earrings and the backgrounds.
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These were done just for fun so that the people receiving them can post the images on their Instagram or Facebook after they get them. I thought I'd share them here since I'm not seeing many shots from other people with this lens. If I was being paid to take these shots I've have at least one other person with me and I would be shooting with two different cameras and two different lenses and might have picked a more interesting backdrop location with better timing for the sun's location... although i deliberately aimed for low tide and had to wait for the right time of the day to produce more color in the water.
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Circular Polarizer & wider apertures in sunlight...
What I quite like about this 32mm f/1.4 lens is that it can shoot quite close to the subject. Closer than the shots I took here. The amount of background resolved with the diffusion this lens produces is just the right amount for this sort of subject at f/1.4 and even f/1.8. Canon did a fine job of reducing CA with this lens as I've only had to make extremely minor corrections to just a few pictures since buying the lens... and most non-pixel peepers probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't. The Circular Polarizer cuts down on glare (which is likely to be a problem at f/1.4 in bright sunlight without ISO 50 or 1/8000 sec exposure times like most modern DSLRs offer. Without it I'd have to stop down the aperture... which would produce nice pictures but not if I want to use the lens at f/1.4 for shallower DOF. The Fusion (aka ECO) series CPL and UV filters make it easier to clean at the end of the day and despite getting sand everywhere none of it stuck to the filter due to the anti-static coating they have. I'm not endorsing them but I appreciate this feature when working in some environments. I don't mind that CPL filters warm the colors of an image but they can (and do) often skew the hues slightly (or a lot). I might have benefited from shooting in RAW but these were just fun shots for others. I think the lens is great fun to play with and it's a tiny one compared to EF alternatives.
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M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - Eastward backdrop (see next image)

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - Using the same for a backdrop.

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - This Pelican was eying off the earrings.

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - (see next image for backdrop)

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - Backdrop (for above image) in focus

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - Pelican eyeing off my props.

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - inexpensive cliche.

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - A handy Seaweed prop.

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - This platform was my last prop perch.

M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 + Hoya Fusion CPL filter - Nice soft backgrounds.

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The shots came out okay for minimal preparation and not using anything professional. I could have used a sheet of white paper for a reflector. I could have use a really cheap $20 CPL and presumably the results would have been much the same. I got lazy and double-stacked the CPL filter over the top of the UV filter I already had on the lens for these images. It doesn't seem to have affected the pictures or produced any vignetting.
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Lens Hood update:
Shooting in the sun usually requires a lens hood and they're almost necessary with some types of lenses. I have noticed the EW-60F lens hood that I've been using on this lens has become looser and more easy to put on and remove... and a closer inspection with 10x magnification shows that the very tight fit over the flanges had worn a minute amount of plastic off where the tightest fit occurs. The wear is on the lens hood, not the lens flanges. It still sits fairly well on the lens although this hood was designed for a different lens altogether. It's still snug on the 32mm lens and has a slight "click" in play when it's in position. I'm going to assume others with the same hood on this lens have noticed similar with their own. I don't think it's problematic and it may not become any looser. An inspection of the "clamping" design on these lenses shows a unique and fairly complex design to keep pressure against the outer wall of the lens without wearing down the clamp system.
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Regards,
Marco Nero.

Very nice pics Marco! My compliments!

Did you do a lot of post processing or are OOC JPEGS fairly similar?

Wayne Larmon wrote:

First, excellent post, as always.

But I just had to ask about Canadian Club Spiced. I live in upstate New York State, US. I am not a whisky connoisseur by any means. In fact, Canadian Club was the whisky my family drank and it is the only whisky I've ever drank (by choice.)

But I was surprised to see the mention of Canadian Club Spiced, as I don't remember hearing about it. Is it only available in Australia? I did some quick Googling and all the references for the spiced version seemed to be ".au" and ".nz" sites.

I like Canadian Club and all, but I didn't think it had an international reputation. Could you tell a bit about why you were shooting a bottle of Canadian Club Spiced?

Wayne

Hi Wayne.
That's a bit surprising.  I was not aware of this beverage myself until about 4 days ago.... when I looked online at my local stores to see if they had any regular Canadian Club because my wife sometimes orders it when we go out.  I have no idea if it's any good because I rarely drink alcohol.  I know my wife is always talking about a few different drinks that she can't seem to find here in Australia that are in the Spiced Rum variety so when I saw Canadian Club Spiced I tried to read up on the local reviews by purchasers.  They described it has being "smoother than a spiced rum" and "a must for the Fine Whiskey connoisseur". With a couple of exceptions, the reviewers seemed to think it was exceptional.  It seems to have vanilla and oak themes with some complaints indicating it was "too sweet" for their tastes and other enjoying it so much that they've bought multiple bottles.  Looking at the comments, one reviewer referred to it as "this new CC spice flavor" and this comment was written in April 2018.  So it may be too new to show up everywhere just yet.  I'm not sure. 
There's a few pages of comments here below the product that might inspire you to continue searching.... https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_794467/canadian-club-spiced-whisky-700ml

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The back of the bottle states that it is "distilled in Canada, bottled in the USA by Canadian Club Whiskey Company,  Supplied in Australia by Beam Global Australia P/L ... distributed by Coca-Cola Amatil ." (which is about 1 minute's drive from my house).  "Distributed in New Zealand by Beam Global."  I saw no special code or number on the back that you might be able to use to trace it.  Only a barcode which would be used locally.
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The moniker on the back of the bottle states "The unrivaled smoothness of Canadian Club Original infused with the perfect hint of spiced flavors".
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One of the shots that would have benefited from a double exposure using a narrower aperture for the foreground.

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I hope you can find it.  Surely there's a supplier in North America that can get one of these bottles to you.  The reason I bought this is to add a layer of distraction for a gift that I bought my wife.  She drinks the Canadian Club so if she thinks I bought this for her she won't be guessing and I might be able to surprise her with something else (that was not shown in my images here).

Wayne Larmon wrote:

Marco Nero wrote:

Wayne Larmon wrote:

First, excellent post, as always.

But I just had to ask about Canadian Club Spiced. I live in upstate New York State, US. I am not a whisky connoisseur by any means. In fact, Canadian Club was the whisky my family drank and it is the only whisky I've ever drank (by choice.)

But I was surprised to see the mention of Canadian Club Spiced, as I don't remember hearing about it. Is it only available in Australia? I did some quick Googling and all the references for the spiced version seemed to be ".au" and ".nz" sites.

I like Canadian Club and all, but I didn't think it had an international reputation. Could you tell a bit about why you were shooting a bottle of Canadian Club Spiced?

Wayne

Hi Wayne.
That's a bit surprising. I was not aware of this beverage myself until about 4 days ago.... when I looked online at my local stores to see if they had any regular Canadian Club because my wife sometimes orders it when we go out.

The reason it caught my eye was the "small world" factor because New York State adjoins Canada. (And because Canadian Club is the only whisky I drink.) But then I reread your OP and saw "Crown Maple Syrup " which makes it even smaller. It comes from Dutchess County, New York (state), which is a few hours south of where I live. (Even though I live in maple syrup country, I'm also not a connoisseur of maple syrup.)

At least the "Bourbon-Aged" variety looks like it is available in the US and isn't Australia-only.

Small world indeed.

Wayne

Wayne, you might be interested to know that Crown Royal made a maple finish Canadian whiskey. It is now "retired", but apparently still available in many stores. See https://www.crownroyal.com/canadian-whisky/crown-royal-maple/

Lost99999 wrote:

Did you do a lot of post processing or are OOC JPEGS fairly similar?

Hi Lost9999,
Most of the time the JPEGs are fairly similar.  I often adjust the levels slightly in shots taken without a CPL filter.  I try to get a good image straight out of the camera each time but sometimes I'll need to correct colors.  Especially since I rarely do a white-balance correction these days and its probably necessary if I'm using a CPL filter.  If my WB is set to Auto I tend to only need to correct the exposure and alter the Blue hues slightly.  The high contrast applied by CPL filters means there's usually not much Dynamic Range to play with because the shadows tend to quite stark.
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When I use a CPL filter in daylight it tends to increase contrast and mutes areas that might otherwise overexpose.  Another thing these filters tend to do is "warm up" certain tones, sometimes abnormally so... for example: certain colors.  The sky looked less blue and a bit more steely grey out of the camera.  It really depends on the light in each shot.  Where the sun is and how the polarizing filter is used makes a big difference with each shot. I think that without the use of the filter the water surface wouldn't be transparent as it appears below...
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M6 + 32mm f/1.4 lens + Hoya CPL filter - Before and after - not much difference aside from the sky.
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With the shots I took the other day at the beach, the sand was an odd orange color with ugly patches of grey.  No yellow-white sand on this little beach. Some of this is decaying plant matter but the red is from volcanic ironstone in the area and the grey is from volcanic deposits that breaks out on the surface. It makes for an ugly sand color here.... I should have picked a different beach for any shots showing the sand up close.  I even thought about buying coral to hang the earrings on and scoopfuls of tiny white shells from a nearby store... but that's the sort of thing you'd do with a paid job.  Not this. 
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The effect of a CPL filter - aimed at a footpath and rotated to three different positions...

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I think a lot of photographers don't realize how much a CPL filter can change the way light interacts with a surface.  When the sun is in certain positions in the sky, the results can vary greatly, even if shooting from the same position each time.  Even in the example above showing three shots taken of a footpath, you can see how much the color varies from one shot to another.   There's two other UNEDITED images below that were taken yesterday.  I picked them randomly but you can see what the exposure and colors were like straight out of the camera here...  Note how different the colors are in each of the two UNEDITED shots below.  This is because I had the White Balance set to Auto.  I probably ought to have locked it down to Daylight settings for these shots.
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M6 + 32mm + CPL - UNEDITED with no corrections, just resizing.

M6 + 32mm + CPL - UNEDITED - Note the shift in color - because I didn't lock down the WB

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The people shooting RAW have to edit their images regardless.  They need to make quite a few adjustments for each and every image and sometimes use "batch editing" to bring a series of pictures taken with identical settings up to a publishing level.  Those of us shooting in JPEG have the camera's processor do most of this work but the results of the use of a Circular Polarizer can make or break an image.  There are times when I don't bother to use a CPL filter and the results are often lovely. But on a beach environment during daylight hours I find the use of a CPL necessary.  But whilst older PowerShot models from Canon used to give me plenty of consistency with White Balance, I find that the White Balance on the EOS M cameras seems to fluctuate from shot to shot (see examples above).  Usually the colors are consistent but occasionally they jump.
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I like that there's room to edit JPEGs from the EOS M cameras.  If you don't want to you don't usually need to.  But it's nice to have the freedom of movement to do so if you want.  For the shots above (of the earrings), I think shooting in RAW would produce a slightly smoother image with less chance of banding where the color and tonal variations transit.  But I'm okay with these.  Some shots below show show other benefits of using a CPL filter over water... And the earrings above look more translucent because the external reflections on the outer glass glazing were reduced by the filter.  They look like this to the eye although the reflections ad yet another layer of depth.  Again, if this was a paid shoot I'd have taken shots with the filter rotated to various positions.  But they were fun to take and you learn something new each time you take photographs in a new place under different conditions.
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Canon Pro1 - the effects of a CPL on water  (taken with my old Pro1 camera)

EOS M - Showing the difference a polarizer makes when rotated.

Canon Pro1 - Waikiki Beach - using a CPL to remove water reflections & enhance color. 
This image has been processed in both Lightroom and Photoshop but the Pro 1 camera was known for processing an image nicely.

Canon Pro1 -  to be honest, I regret not being able to duplicate these colors on the beaches I'm currently able to access here where I am in Australia.  The position of the sun, the consistency of the sand and the nature of the light all play a part in the results.