Any way to remove flare???

eoren1

I captured some shots of my son on a recent trip to Disney World and love everything about this one except the huge sun flare. Any suggestions on removing or taming it?
Thanks,
E

colourbox

Flare is basically a loss of contrast with a color shift. If you're good with Photoshop you can add a Curves adjustment layer, add a mask to it that fits the shape of the flare, and adjust the contrast and color. Probably take some time though, and some detail work around the edge.

Scott_Quier

colourbox wrote:

Flare is basically a loss of contrast with a color shift. If you're good with Photoshop you can add a Curves adjustment layer, add a mask to it that fits the shape of the flare, and adjust the contrast and color. Probably take some time though, and some detail work around the edge.

And as you do that, check out the "\" key (usually found above the "Enter" key on PC keyboards). It acts as a toggle to show you where your mask in applied and where it's not. Very helpful!

eoren1

Thanks guys! I'm terrible with PS but will give it a try. It'll either work or I'll just have to grow to like that darn sun spot.
Out of curiosity, would another lens have been more resistant to this situation? This was shot with the Canon 18-55 3.5-5.6 IS lens as I was obviously sitting in the passenger seat and had nothing else that would go this wide. As it is, I only ended up with two frames spoiled by flare as we went around the track...just bad luck that my favorite one was included in that select group.
Thanks again,
E

pathfinder

Some lenses are worse than others. Cheaper zooms are usually the worst, but even the 24-105 L IS has problems with flare sometimes.

A lens hood can help a lot.

It is always a good thing to think about when shooting into the light, especially sunlight.

Flare can be removed in Photoshop, but it is a chore to do well. It can be hard to do well enough.