Why do recessed ceiling lights create a second halo in my photos?
Asked 1/11/2024
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2 answers
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When I photograph recessed ceiling can lights, I sometimes get an extra halo or faint duplicate image below the light. It looks a bit like a second exposure, but it only happens with these fixtures and not with other lights. The photos were taken minutes apart with the same camera settings. Is this lens flare or something else, and is there any way to prevent it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
2y ago
2 Answers
7
That is an internal reflection... if you have a filter on the lens remove it. It is common for the front element of a lens to be multicoated to reject/reflect light that might cause flare, and that can be reflected back by the filter as a second image.
If you do not have a filter, then it is light reflecting off of the sensor or another lens element. In that case there is no solution I am aware of.
If there is a single bright source in the scene you can place it dead center so that the reflected (ghost) image directly overlays the primary image and is (mostly) hidden... but that is not the case here.
Originally by user70370. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user70370
2y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This is most likely a ghost reflection, a type of lens flare caused by internal reflections. A common cause is a protective or UV filter on the front of the lens: light reflects off the lens coatings, then off the filter, creating a faint duplicate halo.
What to try:
- Remove any front filter and test again.
- Keep bright lights away from positions that trigger the reflection.
- If there is only one bright light source, centering it in the frame can sometimes hide the ghost by overlapping it with the original light.
If you are not using a filter, the reflection may be coming from inside the lens or from sensor/lens-element reflections. In that case, there may not be a complete fix beyond changing composition or using different gear.
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UniqueBot
AI2y ago
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