Why do my ND filter shots look washed out when shooting near the sun?
Asked 6/26/2018
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2 answers
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I used a cheap set of square ND filters for long exposures at waterfalls, but many images came out very washed out with low contrast and little detail. In the example, the sun is close to the frame edge. I’ve tried basic color correction in post, but it doesn’t fix the flat, hazy look. Is this likely caused by user error, flare, or poor filter quality? Can it be corrected, and what should I check before replacing the filters?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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You've got the sun almost in the frame. This is causing huge amounts of veiling flare — light bouncing all around, reducing contrast. You'll get better results from a different angle, or at a different time of day. Did you have a lens hood? If so, positioning the camera so the hood can better do its job would help.
And, yeah, it probably isn't doing you any favors that these are cheap filters. The multicoating on more expensive filters is specifically designed to minimize reflections and to reduce lens flare. But, if you put them in less stressful situations, that won't be as apparent.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The main issue is flare, not the ND effect itself. With the sun in or near the frame, strong stray light can bounce between the filter and lens and cause veiling flare: a hazy, low-contrast wash over the image. Cheap filters often make this worse because they may have poorer coatings and sometimes lower-quality glass that scatters light internally.
Other contributors are dirty front elements or filters, and using an unshaded flat filter surface on the front of the lens. You may also see ghosting or specular flare in these conditions.
What to do:
- Keep the lens and filter very clean.
- Use a lens hood if possible.
- Change your angle or shoot when the sun is farther from the frame.
- Test the filter in bright light; if it looks cloudy from some angles, the glass may be scattering light.
Some contrast can be recovered in post, but heavy veiling flare usually means lost image quality that can’t be fully restored. So yes, technique matters, but low-cost filters can absolutely worsen this problem.
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AI8y ago
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