# Any way to minimize this sun flare/ haze?



## sibebabe (Dec 4, 2013)

You know the story everyone is tired of the entire outing including dad! No help to be found but there is a really neat sign and you just want one shot of the kids together before you leave. So of course it has to be 3pm with sun right at their backs! I did what I could with contrast exposure and clairity, what do you think? Any more ideas? I just love the picture! Of course it had to be with my new lens with no hood also! But I guess don't learn if you don't try! Thanks


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## Tee (Dec 4, 2013)

Try bumping the blacks just a pinch.


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## TamiAz (Dec 4, 2013)

Next time try moving a little to the right or left so your at an angle to the light and it's not going directly into your lens and you'll have less haze.. You don't need to move much, but it makes a big difference..Does that make sense? I'm not very good at explaining things in writing, but I could show very quickly..:mrgreen: It's a cute image!!


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## Designer (Dec 4, 2013)

Offering no "fix" for this shot, but next time you find yourself shooting into the sun without a shade, try shooting one-handed with your free hand shading the front of the lens.  Or get someone else to shade the lens.

Also some fill flash wouldn't hurt either.


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## KmH (Dec 4, 2013)

Yep! &#8593; &#8593; &#8593; &#8593;

Shade the lens with hand, cap, magazine, whatever's handy. Fill light of some kind is pretty much a requirement when a subject is back lit.

Shooting in Sh*tty Light: The Top Ten Worst Photography Lighting Situations and How to Conquer Them


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## ronlane (Dec 4, 2013)

Embrace the flare, you are now an artist .


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## sibebabe (Dec 4, 2013)

Thanks for the tips for next time. Makes total sense to step just a bit to one side or the other. And using my hand didn't even occur to me! I don't feel like my nikon lens do this as bad and this tamron does it no matter what. I love the advise I get here! Thanks so much!


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## KmH (Dec 4, 2013)

Lens coatings, which vary by brand and model of lens, can definitely influence how well or how poorly a lens will handle having a bright light source in or near the image frame.


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## Ysarex (Dec 4, 2013)

Any chance you have a raw file? Get me access to your full-res version and I can do a much better job.

Joe


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## sibebabe (Dec 5, 2013)

I am at work but will try to post the raw later? What did you do joe? I'd like to learn how you minimized the flare but still kept the light a bit. Thanks


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## Designer (Dec 5, 2013)

sibebabe said:


> I am at work but will try to post the raw later? What did you do joe? I'd like to learn how you minimized the flare but still kept the light a bit. Thanks



sibebabe; one cannot simply post a raw file on this forum.  You can post it to another website that supports RAW and send Joe a link via PM.


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## robbins.photo (Dec 5, 2013)

ronlane said:


> Embrace the flare, you are now an artist .



And pretty soon you'll take the next step up and become an arte'est - which I think comes with a coupon for 10% your next double mocha latte from Starbucks.  Lol


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## Ysarex (Dec 5, 2013)

sibebabe said:


> I am at work but will try to post the raw later? What did you do joe? I'd like to learn how you minimized the flare but still kept the light a bit. Thanks



I used Photoshop's blending modes (Overlay, Multiple and Screen) which can remediate flare and haze pretty well. Unfortunately you don't get that functionality in LR. However there is a different raw converter, LightZone, which does provide those functions as part of the raw conversion process. So there's two ways to approach your problem:

1. Convert the raw in LR and then process the result in Photoshop or
2. Take the raw straight to LightZone

Joe

I'd be happy to help -- Designer is correct it's hard to move raw files around because of their size but there are ways to do it.


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## minicoop1985 (Dec 6, 2013)

ronlane said:


> Embrace the flare, you are now an artist .



JJ Abrahms would agree.


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## sibebabe (Dec 6, 2013)

Well that's good to know! Thank you! I have need busy the last few days and didn't get anything done with the picture. I was afraid you would say photoshop joe! I'll say this, I HATE LAYERS! I realize if I took the time to learn them they would be my best friend but I just detest them! I accually have adobe CC so I have access just avoid it like the plague! It might be time to buy a book! I'll do some more learning in to it. Thanks for telling me where to start on a sun flare like this.


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## runnah (Dec 6, 2013)

Shoot at night.  Or just dump the color and you have a trendy faded BW photo.


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## Ysarex (Dec 6, 2013)

sibebabe said:


> Well that's good to know! Thank you! I have need busy the last few days and didn't get anything done with the picture. I was afraid you would say photoshop joe! I'll say this, I HATE LAYERS! I realize if I took the time to learn them they would be my best friend but I just detest them! I accually have adobe CC so I have access just avoid it like the plague! It might be time to buy a book! I'll do some more learning in to it. Thanks for telling me where to start on a sun flare like this.




I didn't use Layers at all, although Layers can be very useful. I just hand painted in the change using the History brush. You can paint blending modes directly with the History brush. Set the opacity low (15%) and select the blending mode you want (Multiple, Overlay, Soft Light and Screen in your case). Set a large soft brush and each new click of the mouse key is another pass. Switch the photo to Lab mode and in Channels select the Lightness channel if you want to avoid the saturation increase that will come with using the blend modes on and RGB photo.

As for learning Photoshop: I make my living teaching Photoshop to college students. I start the semester by telling my students that I personally don't use Photoshop very much because I'm smart enough not to need it, but that I'll be happy to teach it to them.  

We then start with RULE #1: Begin by identifying the error you made that has you trying to fix your photo in Photoshop. Have you made this same mistake in the past? So you think making mistakes and fixing them later is smart?

I'm getting too old for this.

Joe


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