Disappointing Pictures

After getting back the pictures of our California trip, I got disappointed. There are numerous pictures displaying a weird drab color. Just when I wanted to blame the printing, some well-balanced-colored ones jumped out; that was humiliating. After some close examination, it turned out that the bad ones were all taken with a polarizer, and this becomes even more confusing.

I used the polarizer to cut down the bright sky, in the hope that the contrast between forground and distant snow peaks could also be reduced. That seemed a futile effort; the contrast was still so strong, while the whole picture showed a shift of color towards blue. Well, this is a perfect lesson showing the importance of testing out the equipment thoroughly while at home. To be fair to myself, I have used this filter while I was in Las Vegas, and didn't observe any color shift; but maybe that was because of the good weather? I have no idea.

In contrast, pictures from my tiny point and shoot digital camera turned out pretty good. That proves another lesson: the better equipment, the easier to get full control, and the easier to screw up.