Sun artifact question

[jmanpa]

Sorry, newb photo question. How can I avoid the "sun dots" on the center of this house? I have Photoshop, but I assume there isn't an easy way to remove these.

[OsmosisStudios]

That's flare and thats a symptom of shooting with the sun at the edge or in the frame.

You could remove them in PS. Its a bit of a pain, but its do-able. ideally: re-shoot at a different time of day so as to not get the sun where it is.

[Kobypolish]

When you re-shoot us a UV filter and if you have one a Circular Polarizing filter to greatly if not completely remove any chance of lens flares.

[autofocus]

..a lens hood could help

[sfisher]

Originally Posted by Kobypolish

When you re-shoot us a UV filter and if you have one a Circular Polarizing filter to greatly if not completely remove any chance of lens flares.

I'm afraid this really isn't very good advice. Adding filters to a lens will always increase the chance of flare. Expensive multicoated filters might not increase the chance much, but they certainly don't decrease it. Also, I don't think a CPL will have any effect (other than acting as a density filter) when you're looking straight into the sun.

A lens hood might help, but it looks to me that the sun is in the top right corner of the frame, so a hood won't help in that situation. I would think your only option is to shoot at a different time of day, when the sun is out of the frame. If you don't have a lens hood, shield the front of your lens from direct sunlight using your hand or a bit of card.

[dcclark]

Filters make glare worse -- unfortunately.

Lens hoods are rarely big enough to stave off any but the worst flare.

Your hand can do a better job -- hold it out in the direction of the sun until the flare disappears.

But the last advice from sfisher is the best: shoot at a different time. Sun flare is typically hard to get with modern lenses, so you were very unlucky. Just change your timing or position a little, and it will almost certainly go away.

[jmanpa]

Thanks all. I was intending on going back again to get some better shots anyway. Will pick an earlier time.