indoor light & filtration for those w/ a metal fetch

In shooting museum machinery, I've used a polarizer to keep some of the glare/flare at bay. My last couple outings seem to produce a rather bland level of contrast which I attribute to the artificial lighting. In playing w/ Lightroom filters, it seemed like a red gave the most consistent improvement, though in one case the green was better.

The question is on how to see/read what to expect of the various indoor lights & how to best filter to get contrast and detail.

Is it possible to find what kind of light is there? Local volunteers are unlikely to know.

Is the polarizer part of the problem?

Better to use a #25 and use camera position/angle to minimize glare/flare?

Any other strategies you've found helpful?

I appreciate your kind help.

Hmmm -- I have filters, even polarizers, to fit a number of my cameras but don't really use them all that much. Polarizers can be good for reflections and I imagine could wreak havoc -- good and bad -- with chrome objects. But I'm inclined to think contrast issues might be more a matter of exposure and development. A number of my shots that you have had positive reactions to were unfiltered, although in several cases there was an unholy blend of daylight from various holes (skylights, odd windows...) in the building, plus Zeus knows what artificial lighting.

There's my 1.3 after tax cents before my coffee kicks in.

Dave, dang its good to hear your thoughts. A brief positive benefit from a polarizer on the trains, and I seem to have glommed on to it as neccessary. After posting, I thought of exposure/dev also & that's a likely area to work for me. I'm still quite easily fooled by my metering. 'Maybe some rolls where I meter manually & then w/ the FE2 to compare.
'Very helpful to here filtration isn't necc. the silver bullet.
I appreciate your kind help.

Just a comment about polarizers: It's pretty easy to see the end effect by just looking through the filter. Often, partially polarized is a good choice. Completely eliminating reflections can easily take the life out of a subject. I would think that, especially with machinery, reflections would be a vital part of the composition.

If eliminating the polarizer doesn't help with contrast, you'll just have to use a higher contrast grade paper or develop more. The artificial lighting your subjects are lit with doesn't turn shadows a different color that can easily be darkened by using a filter of a complementary color. If there are particular colors you wish to lighten or darken in relation to others, then filters might help some there.

Best,

Doremus

[Snip]
Is the polarizer part of the problem?

I believe a polarizing filter works well with a polarized light source.. such as sunlight. If the light source illuminating your subject is not 'polarized'... an on-lens polarizing filter is not going to be of much benefit in such situations.

I used to use sheets of polarizer (somewhat expensive... and purchased from Polaroid) when using a 3200 K tungsten light source and a white diffusing material to 'soften' (by 'enlargement') of the light source ... the Polarizing sheet being mounted between the diffusing material and the subject matter.

Ken