Kill lens flare?

[tlittleton]

This shot was taken in late afternoon with a 19-35 mm lense. Is there a good way to minimize this? Does the quality of the lens have anything to do with it? I was using a fairly inexpensive Quantaray lens here. It had a lens hood, but didn't help too much. I ended up using my hand to block some of the light in a later shot.

http://www.pharrett.com/21295433-M.jpg

[Eric&Susan]

My guess would be some sort of filter, Polarizing or UV haze maybe? I'm sure an expert will be here soon to give you a better answer. I'm pretty sure that better glass would also help reduce the flare. Something with the front element recessed into the lens more would help.


Eric

[tlittleton]

My guess would be some sort of filter, Polarizing or UV haze maybe? I'm sure an expert will be here soon to give you a better answer.


Eric
Actually, on this shot, there is both a UV and Polarizer...

[bkriete]

I think a UV filter will actually make flare *worse* since it adds another layer of glass. My understanding is that higher-quality lenses use coatings that make them less susceptible to flare, but if you're shooting into a light source at the right (or wrong) angle, you will probably get some degree of flare or veiling.

[bfjr]

When shooting use only one filter i. e. polarizer. Dump that uv one.
yes cheap lens can help induce this, but mainly IMHO change angle of camera to sun.

Still I find this an interesting shot :thumb
Hope that helps a little

[Khaos]

Lens hood.

[ubergeek]

It looks like you've practically got the sun in the frame--that's a recipe for flare right there. :D

Flare is partly a function of the lens--some lenses are definitely more susceptible to flare than others. A hood can help, but only if it's actually blocking a strong light source from hitting the lens. Given that the sun was very close to being in the frame already, the hood probably did nothing for you in this case.

As has been mentioned, putting additional filters on the lens is more likely to increase flare than to decrease it. You probably could have done without the UV filter for this shot, and the polarizer is questionable as well (a polarizer is least effective when shooting into the sun).

You mentioned using your hand in later shots to block some of the light--that's a technique I've found most effective. You may also find a hat or some other object to be useful. Finally, you might try doing this shot at some other time of day--the position of the sun when this shot was taken makes things particularly challenging.

Cheers,
Jeremy

[David_S85]

Yes, use a lens hood. Or your hand. Or alter your shooting angle.


Here's a coupla articles to read about lens flare:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-feb-05.shtml

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/flare.shtml