What causes bright halos around subjects, and how can I reduce them?
Asked 3/5/2011
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I’m seeing thin bright fringes/halos around the edges of my subject in an outdoor photo. The image was taken on a Canon 550D with a 70-200mm f/4 lens at 200mm. What typically causes this effect, and is there a way to prevent or reduce it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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It's hard to tell for sure at that resolution, but it looks like overly aggressive sharpening (unsharp masking) to me -- you are probably taking JPEGs straight from the camera, right?
Unsharp masking works by "forcing" the contrast at the edges -- it makes the darks slightly darker and the lights slightly lighter where they meet in order to increase the difference between them and make the edges more noticeable.
You can either shot in RAW format and take control of sharpening in post-processing or (and this should be possible with the 550D/T2i) go to the settings on the camera and reduce the amount of sharpening applied automatically to JPEG images (if you want to continue using JPEGs). I'm not familiar with that model's menu system, but the manual should tell you where you want to go.
Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2719
15y ago
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The bright edge halos are most likely from overly strong sharpening, especially if you’re using JPEGs straight out of the camera. Sharpening algorithms increase edge contrast by making light areas slightly lighter and dark areas slightly darker, which can create visible fringes around subjects.
On the Canon 550D, this is usually controlled by the Picture Style settings. To reduce it:
- choose a softer Picture Style, or
- customize the Picture Style and lower the sharpness setting.
If you want the most control, shoot RAW and apply sharpening later in post-processing, where you can adjust it more carefully and avoid haloing.
So in short: the lens is probably not the cause here; in-camera JPEG sharpening is the most likely reason, and reducing sharpening or switching to RAW should help.
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