Sun glare...

Is there any way to avoid this ? I tried taking this picture(see below) around the time the Sun rises, but the glare from the Sun around that time made it almost impossible for me to take this picture. I tried using my hand to block the sun also tried moving my body in all sorts of different angles and directions, but nothing worked. I also tried using a Polarizing filter, but all it did was to darken the picture. Is there a viable solution to this type of scenario ? Edited March 5, 2022 by hjoseph7

Ansel Adams would use his hat to shield the lens. That works for me too, or just my hand.

 

The "Haze Removal" tool in Lightroom can improve this image considerably.

When not shooting in the city I wear a wide brimed western hat in addition to a lens shade. Works for me. Standing in the shade can help also. The hat also provides protection against sun damage to nose and face.

The easiest answer is to come back at a different time when you won't have to deal with backlight. You might be able to shade the lens sufficiently to limit the lens flare, but the sky will still be burned out if the house is properly exposed.

The easiest answer is to come back at a different time when you won't have to deal with backlight

 

This is usually the best you can do.

 

Sometimes a little shading followed by a "poster" effect, but better to get the sun on the front of the building, I think.

Edited March 5, 2022 by JDMvW

Some lenses aren't particularly flare resistant when a bright light is in the frame. Also the shooting aperture can affect how the lens responds to flare - large apertures produce results similar to yours, very small apertures often produce what are referred to as "sunstars".

I'll try the hat since coming back at a different time would ruin my schedule. I wear a baseball cap on most shoots, but I think I need a bigger hat. Shooting from behind a tree sometimes helps if there are any. Kneeling down so that the house blocks the sun can work, but with mixed results.

Probably obvious, but the lens hood is critical to avoiding this as much as possible. Using a hat mimics/extends this. Backing up and using a telephoto lens with a lens hood might get you the shot without the glare.

...or taking a step left or right to put a branch between you and the sun.

I'll try the hat since coming back at a different time would ruin my schedule. I wear a baseball cap on most shoots, but I think I need a bigger hat. Shooting from behind a tree sometimes helps if there are any. Kneeling down so that the house blocks the sun can work, but with mixed results.

You do not need big or bigger. Closer to the lens equals bigger. As long as you can put the entire lens in your cap, it is more than big enough. You do not need some sort of head covering for this job. As someone mentioned, your hand will do fine too. Anything that can cast its shadow on the lens.

The challenge is to keep the shade out of the field of view, while the problem is that the source of light is not, or barely not. Best is what was mentioned before by others: wait until the sun has moved. It moves rather fast across the sky. But that only works, of course, when it is on its way out of, not into the field of view.

If the sun is indeed out of the field of view, flare like shown tells you that your lens hood is not good enough. Use a compendium, and extend it as far as necessary. And/or add a baffle to its front, if possible.

Edited March 5, 2022 by q.g._de_bakker

as de-bakker said, you only need something as large as your lens--assuming the light is in a position where you can shade the lens. This doesn't appear to be that situation. It's hard to tell precisely, but it appears that the sun is only a few degrees over the roof ridge. There may not be any way to shade the lens sufficiently, given the position of the sun.

I face this problem in contre-jour landscape pictures and there is a solution if the sun is not actually in the picture but just outside it. Put the camera on a tripod, frame the scene, walk around to where you can see the front of the camera but stay out of the picture. Now hold a hand, hat, whatever well in front of and above the lens and move it down to cast a shadow that just covers the the front glass of the lens; exactly this and no more. Done right the flare is avoided and the shadow casting thing isn't in the picture either.

Probably obvious, but the lens hood is critical to avoiding this as much as possible. Using a hat mimics/extends this. Backing up and using a telephoto lens with a lens hood might get you the shot without the glare.

Great idea ! I might try this next time.

You do not need big or bigger. Closer to the lens equals bigger. As long as you can put the entire lens in your cap, it is more than big enough. You do not need some sort of head covering for this job. As someone mentioned, your hand will do fine too. Anything that can cast its shadow on the lens.

The challenge is to keep the shade out of the field of view, while the problem is that the source of light is not, or barely not. Best is what was mentioned before by others: wait until the sun has moved. It moves rather fast across the sky. But that only works, of course, when it is on its way out of, not into the field of view.

If the sun is indeed out of the field of view, flare like shown tells you that your lens hood is not good enough. Use a compendium, and extend it as far as necessary. And/or add a baffle to its front, if possible.

Would that not cause vignetting ?

I face this problem in contre-jour landscape pictures and there is a solution if the sun is not actually in the picture but just outside it. Put the camera on a tripod, frame the scene, walk around to where you can see the front of the camera but stay out of the picture. Now hold a hand, hat, whatever well in front of and above the lens and move it down to cast a shadow that just covers the the front glass of the lens; exactly this and no more. Done right the flare is avoided and the shadow casting thing isn't in the picture either.

Worth a try, thanks !

The advantage of a wide brimmed western style hat is that both hands are free to hold camera steady. Using a lens shade should suffice in most instances. As far as burning out the sky...that’s why God invented filters.

Nothing beats a Stetson Tom Mix.

Best advice is to come back another time when the sun is somewhere else. The hat might work, but not if the sun is too close to the field of view of the lens,. Move the camera so the sun is blocked by a tree.

I like shooting into the sun. It is both challenging and dramatic. A technique I've used frequently is to partially hide the sun behind a branch. I've also found that prime lenses, especially those recently developed for mirrorless cameras, are far more resistant to flare than zoom lenses and legacy primes. I particularly like using Zeiss Loxia lenses for landscapes. Flare is okay as long as it's controlled and serves a purpose

 

Sony A7Riii + Loxia 50/2, 1/1000 at f/8

A compendium (bellow) lens shade can be adjusted to fit the field of view exactly. Ordinary lens hoods are loose in this regard for a variety of reasons. The FOV changes with both focus and zoom level. One size can't fit all. I used a compendium hood with my Hasselblad rather than hard lens hoods. Hoods for Hasselblad are necessarily large and can't be reversed. The compendium hood is large, but smaller than a half dozen separate hoods. Hasselblad lenses are unfortunately prone to flare even from bright sources well outside the field of view.

Or buildings:

 

As mentioned, you don't need 'bigger', however, I find nowadays using an umbrella is my best practical solution. I now carry a folding, light weight, black umbrella in my kit (the type that compresses to about 300mm in length). For me, especially if I am using the camera hand held, I find it easy to control the shade from the umbrella, holding the umbrella in my left hand, rather than using my left hand for the shade, which I used to do for years.

 

Having an umbrella is handy if it rains, too, but for shading a lens can be difficult if it is windy - simply another option for you to consider.

 

WW

Edited March 8, 2022 by William Michael