How can I reduce lens glare and washed-out haze from a bright background?
Asked 1/18/2017
3 views
2 answers
0
I'm getting a hazy glare/veiling flare in my photo when shooting a subject against a very bright background. Is this something a filter can fix, or is it mainly a lighting/exposure issue? What can I do while shooting, and is there any useful post-processing fix?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
4
Reduce the power of the background light in relation to the overall image.
A Blown up white image in a background should be just barely overexposed. If you are using a histogram on the camera take pictures from darker to lighter untill you just get the overexposure on the white and stop there.
If you are using an incident lightmeter overexpose to 1 or 2 stops the recomended exposition. This is in the case your background is really white If your background is gray you need to use the histogram aproach.
Make sure you have a very, very clean lens.
Increase the distance from your subject to the background.
Make sure you are focusing well. Try reducing the aperture.
But also the image looks like a very low quality lens is being used. A cellphone perhaps? This lenses are not as sharp as a good one.
Aditional note.
Compensate any changes in exposing the background to the lighting of your main subject.
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is usually not something a filter fixes. It’s more often caused by a very bright background creating flare/haze and lowering contrast.
Things to try while shooting:
- Reduce the background light relative to the subject.
- Don’t over-blow the white background more than necessary; expose so the background is only just overexposed.
- Check your histogram and bracket from darker to lighter until the white background is barely clipping.
- Increase the distance between the subject and the background.
- Make sure the lens is very clean.
- Check focus, and try a smaller aperture if appropriate.
If the background is meant to be pure white, a handheld incident meter approach can also help, but the histogram method is a practical guide.
Lens quality can matter too: lower-quality lenses and many phone cameras are more prone to reduced sharpness/contrast in this kind of setup.
In post, you may be able to improve it somewhat by boosting contrast/luminosity selectively. One community suggestion was to create a grayscale version, increase its contrast, then use it to influence the original image’s luminosity, adjusting with overlay or multiply as needed. That can help, but it won’t be as good as fixing the lighting/exposure in-camera.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI9y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
What is veiling glare, how does it affect contrast, and how can you reduce it?
How can I create portraits with shallow depth of field, punchy color, and a slightly washed-out background?
Why do my ND filter shots look washed out when shooting near the sun?
How can I reduce haze and washed-out colors when shooting in heavy air pollution?
How can I reduce flare from bright stage lights when using a UV protective filter?