Shots Appear to be "Hazy"...

[Patrick 1945]

I have a continuing problem. When I take a photo of a far off mountain, the image appears to be hazy or misty , even though it's a clear day. This happens at any time of day, but almost always if I'm shooting a far off mountain.

I'm using a Nikon D50 with infrared filter. The problem occurs with all of my lenses in "auto" or "manual" mode.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

[OsmosisStudios]

It's humidity in the air. We dont see it as badly, but the camera has a hard time with it.

[Patrick 1945]

Thanks Osmosis. Is there anything I can do to cut through it, either in camera settings or in post production?

[fire-eyes]

There can be a lot of factors at play here, humidity, particulate matter in the air, the angle that sunlight is striking any combination of that, and distance.

You can try a UV(0) "haze" filter, though these usually do very little. A circular polarizer can really do the trick here, although the critical factor becomes the sun when you try this. With the sun directly ahead or behind you, it won't help much. But the closer you are to the sun being to the left or right, the better it will work out.

This was me performing tests at the grand canyon, where the target was quite far away:

Grand Canyon - Haze Test - 01

Grand Canyon - Haze Test - 02

Aside from a UV(0) which i have on all the time more for protection than anything else, the only other filter I have with me for optional use at all times is the circular polarizer.

These filters can get quite expensive. Like any other filter, keep it in line with the quality of your glass: Don't put a dumpy one on great glass, and putting a great one on dumpy glass is rather pointless. But go for quality.

[Patrick 1945]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try the polarizer. All in all, though, it sounds as though this is a problem with out a good solution.