[Steve400]

Hi,

i took this shot on Monday and hope to return another day to improve on it.

[IMG][/IMG]

10mm, f22, 1/5", ISO 100 with a UV filter and a circular polarizer.

I took the shot with a few different apertures. I think f13 was the best one.

Is there any ways you think i can improve this image when i return?

Also, how do i get a shot without the hexagonal rays/flare? i had thought the UV and polarizer would do this but they didn't.

all comments will be appreciated!!

thanks,
Steve

[AQ]

I would try to get there at a different time of day so you are not shooting so directly into the sun. That has caused the burnt out sky on the right and also the lens flare. This could be a very good picture if you get the timing right. I hope that the boat is still there when you get back.

The flare is caused by light bouncing from various surfaces inside the lens / filter. If you use low quality filters they can cause flare themselves. Having two filters on as you did for this shot can also make thing much worse. If you are using a polariser there is no need for the UV unless like mine it is stuck and wants more force applied to it than I am prepared to do.

[Steve400]

thanks for the reply.

the sun was another good half frame round to the RHS when i took this so i thought it would be ok. I guess an early morning shot would be ideal although the boat and water nearby will be in shadow!
I was chatting to the guy who owns the boat so i'll make sure it's there before i go back!! maybe i should get him to turn it around facing the other way!!

Next time i will try it with just the polariser as you recommend!

thanks!

[Dabhand16]

Steve - using a 10mm FL lens and a polorising filter will often cause big differences in the sky as the angle of view is so big. I posted a couple of examples a while back in a thread to do with polorising filters, but I can't find it now.

The polorising effect depends on the angle of the Sun to your shooting direction, so with the larger than usual angle of view of the 10mm will usually have variations in the sky unless the conditions are just right.

You should be able to see this when rotating the poloriser.

[Charlotte]

Steve,

Re: flare + glare, you need to use a lens hood.

Re: filters, I agree, lose the UV filter, you don't need it here. Just the polariser.

Did you rotate the polariser to full effect I'm seeing a strong reflection of the boat on the water + a lot of light bouncing (reflecting) off the water on the other side of the boat, making me think you forgot to set the polariser correctly. I think that's why you have such deep blue on the LHS of the sky but the RHS is washed out; a polariser will often suffer this difference in sky colour, but not usually to this extent.

[Steve400]

I was using the standard hood for the lens charlotte but yes i will lose the UV next time!

I did try and set the polariser correctly but obviously i didn't succeed! Any tricks to knowing you've got it perfect without having a laptop nearby?!

any help would be appreciated on this!

[Charlotte]

Rotate the polariser a complete 360deg while looking through the viewfinder. You'll see the difference in light it lets through. If you want a matt finish with minimum reflection + maximum colour saturation, then look at a reflection thru the lens + rotate the polariser until the reflection has gone. If you want some reflection, the rotate the CPL until you've got the amount of reflection that you want. Foliage is the best judge for reflective glare, but there isn't any foliage in this scene If you don't use the CPL at its highest strength in a scene like this - an expanse of water - then you are going to get glare in your shot, especially in bright sunlight.

EDIT: Also check the histogram ... with CPL in full effect will show a good saturated histogram.

Another way to check is, in aperture priority mode, watch the shutter speed level as you rotate the CPL, it will often decrease a stop or so when the CPL is in full strength.

[Steve400]

cheers charlotte! i'll know better next time, i was just judging it by what i saw through the viewfinder and thought i had it ok! LOL

now i just have to wait for another good day!!