how can i avoid flare from street lights @ night?

lexie

lexie

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keith
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i went out on a quick trial run at a location i want to get a few shots of this weekend to see if i'd run into any problems, and sure enough i ran into one straight away. in every shot i came away with there is a fair bit of flare from the street lights, as well as the nearest lights having that 'star' appearance to them.

as i said at the start of the post it was just a quick run out this evening and the i'll be spending more time tomorrow or saturday night to hopefully get some better shots nailed. so if anyone has any tips or tricks to improve the lighting they would be gratefully recieved ;)

here's an example of the sort of shot i was getting

DSC01623.jpg


f/14
10 secs
iso 100
focal length 18mm

sony a390/18-55 kit lens

shot in both jpeg and raw, although my editing skills are 'basic' lol. i assume raw would be a better choice for trying to salvage anything from it though??
 
You using a filter on the lens at all?

grum: A lens hood won't help with these as the flares are caused by points of light that are already in the frame.
 
I think you're going to have problems with flare because the lights are that close to the edge of the frame. :( That said, doing any night shots you should make sure that the lens is meticulously clean. Any dirt or smudges could cause a flare.

The star effect on the lights is a side effect of the small aperture, and there's not much you can do about that.
 
The lights are made like this by the long shutter speed. A fix could be to take one photo as you would normally, then change to a fast shutter speed without moving the camera and take another photo. The fast shutter would reduce a lot of flare and then you can use your editing skill in photoshop. That fix of course is free.
 
Very slightly off topic but if you're taking the 'real' shots over the weekend you might want to move your set up so as not to have the blown light (2nd light on left) ruin every shot.
 
The best solution is find an unlit section of road.
Sadly things arent being helped by the weather at the moment which exasperates sodium light glare/flare/glow.

The only other way to knock it out I know if is use an astronomers LPR filter, but they're expensive, have a colour cast and only come in two sizes plus the canon specific IDAS filter.
 
The 'star' effect is caused by using a small aperture, f/14 in this case. The shape of the aperture blades in the lens affect how much of a 'star' you'll get. Straight blades cause it more, curved blades less so. The number of points of the star depend on the number of blades. I reckon your lens has seven aperture blades?

As already said, the flare can't really be avoided as the points of light are already in the shot. Some lenses cope better than others.
 
I think i'd be more worried about the unlit lamp:LOL:

Have you got a Uv filter on? take it off.
 
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trencheel303 said:
You using a filter on the lens at all?

grum: A lens hood won't help with these as the flares are caused by points of light that are already in the frame.
Click to expand...


no filter or lens hood used, a hood will be purchased soon though. for all they cost it would be rude not to
 
redhed17 said:
I think you're going to have problems with flare because the lights are that close to the edge of the frame. :( That said, doing any night shots you should make sure that the lens is meticulously clean. Any dirt or smudges could cause a flare.

The star effect on the lights is a side effect of the small aperture, and there's not much you can do about that.
Click to expand...

i'll clean the lens and try again, thanks for the tip ;)
 
Andy said:
The lights are made like this by the long shutter speed. A fix could be to take one photo as you would normally, then change to a fast shutter speed without moving the camera and take another photo. The fast shutter would reduce a lot of flare and then you can use your editing skill in photoshop. That fix of course is free.
Click to expand...


is there a tutorial somewhere for this? i wouldn't mind trying this
 
lexie said:
is there a tutorial somewhere for this? i wouldn't mind trying this
Click to expand...

There isn't a tutorial as such for this but i'll have a look at the next best thing. If I can't find one, I will gladly guide you through the process.
 
The best video would be the following, its not about street lights but the method is the same.

[YOUTUBE]DA8TgyTruV8[/YOUTUBE]
 
lexie said:
...as i said at the start of the post it was just a quick run out this evening
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised - you wouldn't want to take a slow walk to the central reservation of a dual carriageway :LOL::LOL:
:tumbleweed:
 
davekiddle said:
The 'star' effect is caused by using a small aperture, f/14 in this case. The shape of the aperture blades in the lens affect how much of a 'star' you'll get. Straight blades cause it more, curved blades less so. The number of points of the star depend on the number of blades. I reckon your lens has seven aperture blades?

As already said, the flare can't really be avoided as the points of light are already in the shot. Some lenses cope better than others.
Click to expand...

That is actually very intresting in an "OMG how do you know that!!! :thinking:! kind of way, thanks.

No way round it apart from exposue blending as has been said, really east to do in PS.
 
davekiddle said:
The 'star' effect is caused by using a small aperture, f/14 in this case. The shape of the aperture blades in the lens affect how much of a 'star' you'll get. Straight blades cause it more, curved blades less so. The number of points of the star depend on the number of blades. I reckon your lens has seven aperture blades?

As already said, the flare can't really be avoided as the points of light are already in the shot. Some lenses cope better than others.
Click to expand...


Missed this post, very interesting.
 
nano-coated optics, such as Nikon's new batch of modern G lenses drastically reduce flares. I only have one, the 105mm micro, but I was very surprised how well it works.

Of course, "techin up" and purchasing new equipment is irrelevant. I rather integrate unavoidable flares into my photograph especially when working with my older lenses. The flares they produce are huge but aesthetically pleasing if you know how to exploit them.
 
raspberreh said:
Using a larger aperture can help.
Click to expand...

that won't reduce flair so much, but will reduce the starburst affect from the streetlights (if thats what you want). Best way to reduce the flaire is to have the lens as clean as poss
 
police cant have passed you then , i cant see them being too impressed with you standing in the middle of a dual carriageway :wacky: :LOL:
 
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