Astronomy buffs will know that two days ago there was an annular solar eclipse visible from Australia and much of the South Pacific (this eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks most of the Sun’s image, leaving a ring of fire, or annulus, around the edge of the Moon). Reader John Scanlon was in Oz to take pictures, and sent us two:
I took a series of pics just as the sun showed, but only got the internal reflection in the last few when it was clear of the horizon. Like much of the Pilbara, the area we were working is mostly banded ironstone and spiny Triodia hummock grass (as seen just before the sunrise in the other shot) and it’s at the far western end of the eclipse track, but close to its centreline. I only heard about the eclipse the night before, and simply walked up the nearest hill from camp before even coffee, so the alignment with ‘Mount Delphine’ was fortuitous.
And the site in normal view:
That is, hands down, the absolute best lens flare I have ever seen.
What lens?
For the non-photographers…generally, this type of flare is to be avoided in a lens, as — as you can see — it obscures details in the image. in John’s example, the entire frame has greatly altered color and reduced contrast and saturation. These effects are caused by multiple internal reflections in the lens, and they can degrade an image even when the Sun (or some other bright light) isn’t actually visible in the frame but is merely shining directly on the front of the lens. That’s why a lens hood, that shades as much of the lens as possible without actually being visible in the image, improves image quality.
Lens design, both in terms of the geometry of the lens elements and the materials they’re made with, will affect how much flare is visible as well as what it looks like when it shows up.
And, while flare is generally a distraction to be avoided, it can sometimes produce interesting artifacts that have their own artistic merit. Cinematographers like it especially, and you’ll often see it added to animations of spaceships as the shot pans across the Sun.
As I noted at the top, I’ve never seen a more impressive example of lens flare.
Cheers,
b&
…and why is it that I always spot the fact that I haven’t clicked the checkbox after I’ve already clicked the button?
<sigh />
b&
To correct Jerry a bit, I wasn’t so much ‘in Oz to take pictures’ as it’s where I live and work as a biologist. Definitely not a ‘serious’ photographer, though I do try to get shots of fauna and landscape with whatever device is handy.
I did think the internal reflection effect was neat – it was the only way to record the stage of the eclipse, without preparing a camera obscura or smoked glass plate, and I’m glad Ben liked it too.
And to the question ‘What lens?’ – whatever an iPhone 4S has.
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