It's a shame that such a lovely photo was marred by "lens flare."

You're not experiencing film fogging.

Look at the image and notice where the low contrast, light area is. Also, notice that the shape is circular. The reason this has occurred is that bright sunlight has either caused flare off the lens and/or has travelled directly down the lens.

There are several ways that you can correct this:

1) French Flag - a small black sheet connected to a jointed arm. This is used to shade the lens from direct sunlight. This is your best option, and guaranteed to draw lots of attention. :)

2) Larger Lens Hood: won't always work, and it may cause vignetting.

3) Don't shoot directly into brightly lit areas where glare is likely to occur, i.e. water shots such as this.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Glenn #328

Thank-you very much for the compliment. I like much of your work as well.

Alright, let''s try and solve this problem for you.

What type of camera and lens system are you using?

You may want to test your lenses under controlled conditions to determine which lens, focal length, f/stop, shutter speed that this occurs most.

Are you experiencing actual fogging on the lens itself? This is the impression that I'm getting.

If so, then one solution is to make sure that your camera is at the same temperature as the conditions you are working in. If not, then you will experience fogging on the lenses and mirror within your slr. Believe me on this, even going from an air conditioned car to outdoors can cause this, especially in hot humid weather.

I experienced just such an event this evening for the first time. I went from an air conditioned car to hot, humid outdoors. Boy, the camera fogged up something fierce. It also took a long time to evaporate.

Temperature difference is the only reason for fogging, condensation, to occur on a smooth surface, ussually glass or metal. This can occur in very humid weather with only the slightest difference in temperature. If you are working in a very humid area where the air is supersaturated with water vapour, you may wish to use a lens hood to cut down on the amount of moisture condensing on your lens.
The curvature of the lens itself will provide a larger surface area for which water to condensate.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Glenn

#534

Yes, I thought that you were going from AC to humid weather. Condensation will occur when the camera is cooler than the surrounding environment.

There is 1 possible solution other than hurry up and wait. Try storing the camera in an insulated container, i.e. styrofoam box or within a plastic bag, while under AC. This will minimize the effect of AC on the camera lenses and body, and should cut down the wait time.

Keep up the good work, America.

Cheers,
Glenn #536