Lens flare - warning sunglasses required

PaulStat · 6 Jan 2008 at 17:22

Hi folks is there anyway of changing the following to lessen the impact of the sun so that it doesn't burn a hole in your retina?

King4aDay · 6 Jan 2008 at 17:45

Not straightforwardly... obviously it's completely blown, but you could try cloning a piece of sky onto a separate layer, moving it in front of the sun and then using a circular gradient to mask it so that the sun still shines through the centre, but just in a reduced fashion. Then try a similar thing on the reflection.

Buckster · 6 Jan 2008 at 17:53

how do you take such photos ?

I thought even when right at horizon its strong enough to burn your retina?

benneh · 6 Jan 2008 at 18:33

I'm going to say it.. Go back and re-shoot for a HDR composite. It's a tricky one to expose for. As for the existing image, the sun is blown out (and the reflection), so there's no data to recover.

a1ex2001 · 7 Jan 2008 at 08:33

I'd leave it as it is, when I look at the picture it's like i'm really looking at the view. My eyes are forced away from the top right by the bright sun to the more interesting left hand side which is probably exactly what happened when you stood there to take the picture.

Helium_Junkie · 7 Jan 2008 at 08:55

I quite like it as it is, but maybe just a liiiiittle less blown. Only thing to do is re-shoot, and hope you get the same fantastic mist and clouds.

Alex53 · 7 Jan 2008 at 09:01

I know it won't help for this image, but the real solutions are in the taking of the picture, not in the post processing.

PaulStat · 7 Jan 2008 at 09:22

Alex53 said:
I know it won't help for this image, but the real solutions are in the taking of the picture, not in the post processing.

Ok then, tips for shooting into the sun then please

PaulStat · 7 Jan 2008 at 09:25

Buckster said:
how do you take such photos ?

How do I take them without blinding myself you mean?

mrk · 7 Jan 2008 at 09:52

I'd have thought at the least a polariser or ND Grad !

platypus · 7 Jan 2008 at 10:00

Thats a nice picture

.

PaulStat · 7 Jan 2008 at 10:01

mrk said:
I'd have thought at the least a polariser or ND Grad !

Yes I always have my polariser

JBuk · 7 Jan 2008 at 10:20

mrk said:
I'd have thought at the least a polariser or ND Grad !

yup, the grads and Cpol would have helped get a better exposure

its still a very nice shot though

Amp34 · 7 Jan 2008 at 13:13

How would a Cpl help when taking pictures of the sun? :confused:

I have a similar problem with one of my shots with the sun hiding behind a cloud, everything around the cloud is a bit blown. I didn't bracket exposures enough.

Vertigo · 7 Jan 2008 at 14:19

Amp34 said:
How would a Cpl help when taking pictures of the sun?

Although it's not reflected, it would still reduce the light coming directly from the sun, the ND grad helping further. Where the CPL would really help would be in the reflected light further down, where the ND grad would have less effect.

Helium_Junkie · 7 Jan 2008 at 14:48

CPol may have helped the shade of the sky, but the angle would suggest to me that it wouldnt in fact have much effect at all. And I like the sky colour as it is. I dont think a CPol has any effect on the sun itself.

An ND grad probably would be a solution, that or HDR.

Where was this, by the way? The scene is very nice.

PaulStat · 7 Jan 2008 at 15:07

Helium_Junkie said:
CPol may have helped the shade of the sky, but the angle would suggest to me that it wouldnt in fact have much effect at all. And I like the sky colour as it is. I dont think a CPol has any effect on the sun itself.

An ND grad probably would be a solution, that or HDR.

Where was this, by the way? The scene is very nice.

Rhossilli bay, at the end of the Gower peninsula.

Gonna have to get me set of Cokin ND grads, any idea how much for the holder/set of filters?

PaulStat · 7 Jan 2008 at 15:17

Honest opinion! Would this sell?

a1ex2001 · 7 Jan 2008 at 15:43

PaulStat said:
Honest opinion! Would this sell?

probably not, you might shift one or two but I don't think it's outstanding. Don't get me wrong if it was one of mine I'd be happy to print it out and put it on the wall just don't think an great number would go for it.

Amp34 · 7 Jan 2008 at 16:14

Vertigo1 said:
Although it's not reflected, it would still reduce the light coming directly from the sun, the ND grad helping further. Where the CPL would really help would be in the reflected light further down, where the ND grad would have less effect.

But it would reduce the amount of light to the rest of the image as well, so you would still have to overexpose the sun for the rest of the image to be exposed right? And as Helium_Junkie said a Cpl only really works properly at right angles to the sun.

Paul have a look at Hi-Tec filters as well, they seem to have a good reputation, as good as Cokin but without the 'colour cast' that they supposedly have.