Sun Gets In Your Eyes

So as you know, I spend a lot of time going down the road in my mobile, and having said that, I wear sunglasses a big part of the time.
In fact, at the moment I own and use two pair of sunglasses, and depending on my needs on the day I alternate between them, as they are not created equal for the reasons I'll get to later in this post.

Now for 40 years, or up until about 5 years ago, I wore prescription eye glasses for pretty much all of that time, I would also own a pair of prescription sunglasses at the same time, that I wore when required. So back about 5 years ago, I experienced a tear in the retina of my left eye. When that happened, I was fortunate on several fronts, the first being that the tear was not in the main sight line to the back of the eye, and 2nd the fact that one of the best Ophthalmologists in southern Alberta was able to repair the tear in the retina, restoring my eyesight to where it was before.
Now several years go by, and I noticed my eyesight in that same eye being degraded, and after a visit to my Ophthalmologist, he discovered that I had a cataract in that eye.
The cataract was more than likely caused when a laser was used to weld the tear in the retina in my left eye putting it back together. So I needed to have cataract surgery to remove the cataract, and because I had a -5 prescription, it was required that they do both eyes to balance them out.
By this I mean that the Ophthalmologist would replace the lens with the cataract with a lens that would give me 20/20 vision or very near. It wouldn't make no sense to not do both eyes because of this reason, as the right eye left alone with a -5 prescription, would create problems with depth perception.

So after making the choice as to what IOL (Intraocular lens) they would implant in each of my eyes, and having all the measurement's done in regards to the IOL's required, the Ophthalmologist would do the implant replacing the existing lens, one with a cataract and one without, it was done.
Well unbelievable to me, I ended up with 20/20 vision in both eyes, allowing me to get rid of prescription eyeglasses needed to correct my vision. For the first time since I was 12 years old I had perfect vision day or night. Better yet for the first time in 40 years I could buy sunglasses off of the rack!

Now back to where we get to discuss sunglasses, and I will not be giving you advise in the do's and don'ts when it comes to your eyes, however I speak from experience whit my own eyes and how important my vision is to me, as yours is to you I'm sure.
It wasn't all that many years ago that no one really though about the fact that cataracts could be caused by more than just getting old. In fact today they realize that a large part of the population could develop cataracts because of damage from Ultraviolet light, and today it is recommended that young children should be wearing sunglasses as soon as they'll keep them on their face. Good quality sunglasses will include UV protection, something to remember if you spend a lot of time outdoors, especially at higher elevations in the mountains where you especially need to protect your eyes from the more intense sun rays.

Now there is no such thing a pair of sunglasses that will cover it all, especially if you like myself enjoy photography. Most people that wear sunglasses will go for polarized sunglasses when making the choice, and added to that, they may pick different lens tints that run the gauntlet in regards to color.
In my case I run with a minimum of two pair of sunglasses, and depending on my needs at the moment, I reach for the pair required at that time. If I'm going down the road and playing radio with no thought of shooting photos, I prefer to wear a pair of polarized sunglasses with light brown tinted lens, that cuts down on the glare, and the brown color enhances the light  when the seeing is not that great,
Now when I am involved in photography, and that may still be while going down the road, I wear my non-polarized sunglasses with photo-grey lens.  The reason being is that the lens color is neutral, allowing you to see things as they appear when not wearing sunglasses, therefore I'm not fooled by the enhanced look of my brown tinted lens of my other pair, seeing potential photographs that really aren't as the scene appears in actuality.

The same reasons apply with the polarized lens, as depending on the amount of polarization that has been applied to the lens, colors around you can appear more saturated than they actually are, and the clouds appear more defined than they actually are, causing one to see the potential for creating a photograph that doesn't exist unless you edit the photograph in Photoshop.

If you look at the lead photograph at the top of this post, I shot it with a polarizer filter placed over the front element of the lens that not only enhanced the colors, but makes the clouds and the mountains appear more defined than they actually were by darkening the sky. If you have never used a polarizer filter with your favorite camera/lens combination before, be aware that adding a polarizer filter will only have an effect when the sun is very near 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the image being shot. Good polarizer accessory filters are adjustable in their mounts, allowing you to make adjustments for the amount of polarization you require in darkening skies, or removing glare from foliage amongst other things.

Unlike polarizer filters used in photography, polarized sunglasses are not adjustable, and if you are buying your first pair of polarized sunglasses, make comparisons between the different pairs, as sunglasses are not all created equal with the polarization effect more or less pronounced, depending on the quality of the sunglasses.
One last comment on the next pair of sunglasses you plan on purchasing, regardless of how they look, or what type of lens they come with, make sure the lens include UV protection which most quality sunglasses include.

Now you know the rest of the story.....Ummm where did I put my sunglasses, its time to hit the road.

Note.....all photos expand, and notice the fact that the sunglasses have various types of lens.
My website..... www.jerryclement.ca