Why do vertical light streaks appear in my smartphone photos near the sun?

Asked 8/20/2017

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Many of my holiday photos taken with a Motorola Moto G5 Plus show bright vertical lines or streaks. They seem to appear when the sun is in or near the frame. What causes this effect, and how can I reduce or avoid it when shooting with a smartphone?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

2

That is lens flare. Notice how the artifact is always on the side of the image nearest the sun.

Flare can be avoided by not pointing the camera towards direct light sources, such as the sun. Sometimes flare can be prevented by shading the lens, such as by holding your hand over the lens to block light that would otherwise move sideways into the lens.

Originally by user56382. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user56382

8y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Those vertical streaks are lens flare. They happen when strong light from the sun or another bright source hits the lens and reflects internally, creating bright artifacts in the image. On phones, this can show up as streaks because of the small lens design.

To reduce it:

  • Avoid aiming the camera directly toward the sun or other bright light sources.
  • Slightly change your angle or recompose the shot.
  • Shade the lens with your hand or another object, being careful not to block the frame.
  • Keep the lens clean, since smudges can make flare worse.

Sometimes flare is unavoidable, but changing position or shielding the lens usually helps.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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