An overnight journey from the Ladies German Open took 20 professionals and myself to the Sudtirol Ladies Pro-Am 2009, A one round pro-am in Morano, Italy. Fine weather and a fantastic hotel and wellness centre was the perfect accompaniment  to the beautiful scenery of the Italian Alps. I could have spent a week or two there but sadly only had the one day's shooting with no time to really get any scenic shots. The photo on the left shows Denmark's Amanda Moltke-Leth teeing off on the 5th hole. The tour continues to Eindhoven in Holland this week on a tight tree lined course for the ABN Amro Ladies Open.

Last week the Ladies European Tour moved to Munich for the HypoVereinsbank Ladies German Open. The crowds were good and the weather was warm with blue skies that made using a polarising filter a must. The tournament went down to the wire with a final playoff hole between Jade Scheaffer of France and Spain's Paula Marti. Jade took the title with a 3 foot putt to seal her first Ladies European Tour win.

Polarising filters are incredibly useful bits of kit to have in your camera bag. They can be used to create a number of effects but are most commonly used to control reflections on shiny surfaces such as water of glass. Most useful for my however is the ability to create contrast between the white clouds and a blue sky. You can create some beautiful dark blues using a polariser and it is an easy way to enhance your landscape photography. It is also difficult to replicate the effects of a polarising filter in photoshop especially when dealing with reflections on water.

I have experimented with several makes of polarising filter over the years and have settled on a B&W for its optical quality and solid construction. A quick word of caution before buying a filter, make sure that you get a circular polarising filter not a linear one as most cameras metering / focusing mechanisms may be affected by a linear one. If in doubt, check the manufacturers guidelines.