why is this happening?

[prrs4me]

This is annoying. I am using a Canon xti. The first picture was taken with an 70-300mm lens and a tripod(I don't know what the light shadow is in the upper right). Every time I try to take the moon I get the same light shadow somewhere. The second with a 18-55mm lens and I don't know what the cirlce is in the center. Thanks for any advice.

[Saralonde]

Could possibly be a smudge on your lens. I took a whole series of shots once and had the same light circle you have on your second image. Cleaned my lens with a lens cloth and presto!, no more circle.

[inkista]

Looks like lens flare to me. Maybe using a hood or shading the lens would help. Try shooting front-lit objects (i.e., with the sun at your back) and see if you still get it.

[Firemaine]

Was wondering it you have a UV filter on your lens. This was happening to me and once I removed the UV lens it stopped.

[prrs4me]

I do have a UV filter on both lenses. And I was shooting a little towards the sun on the second pic.
I mostly don't understand the pic of the moon. What is lens flare? And how do I prevent it? I'm going to do some research now!
Thank you for your help.

[Saralonde]

Lens flare: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...lens-flare.htm

Can usually be prevented with a lens hood attached to your camera.

[PnwGuy]

Have you tried a different lens as well as removing the UV filter and cleaning?

Also, the instructor of my photography class gave us the following settings for moon shots: I have not tried them yet though. :-)

Use f/16 and 1/ISO Speed

If you're using ISO 200, then set your shutter speed to 1/200 and aperture to f/16.

For ISO 400, it would be 1/400 shutter and f/16 aperture.

Different settings will get different results, but since the moon moves faster than you would think you want a faster shutter speed to prevent blur.

[prrs4me]

Yes to different lenses. The 2 pictures were taken with different lenses. The moon was the 70-300 zoom and the building with the 18-55.
The lenses are clean. I always make sure of that.
I do have a UV filter on both lenses and I don't have a hood which I am now going to look for. I felt that the UV filter protected the lens. Should I use something different to protect the lens?

[ThreePts]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb_%28paranormal%29

[Nicole]

Those filters do protect the lenses, but they can also cause reflections. You could just take the filter off when you're shooting bright light sources that may reflect. That's what I do.

Now a quick story about why I like filters: The other day I dropped my camera. Totally shattered the polarizing filter I had on there. Thankfully, my lens and everything else was ok. So, instead of having to have a camera repaired, I just had to get a new filter. As the guy at the camera store said: They make great shock absorbers