Taking pictures with bright light (i.e. spotlights or the sun)

JJLaPres

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I have a Nokia Lumia 928. I actually really like it but it has one problem that is driving me a little nuts and I think it is something I am doing. Every time I try to take a picture that has a really bright light in it, I get this weird glare or wash out effect (examples attached). Can someone tell me how to correct for this?

WP_20140807_002.jpgWP_20140430_003.jpg
 

etphoto

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lol, all camera will do that. Only away around it is change the angle of your camera. Preplan your shots (ok, the sun is here, I need to be over there if I'm going to take pictures) During those few times I'm unable to change angles a trick I sometimes do (not on a cellphone though) is create a little shade over my camera to keep the sun from hitting the lens.


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JJLaPres

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Thanks for the advice. You mentioned all cameras do this. I was sitting next to my wife and daughter. They both took similar pictures of the stage at about the same time. One was using a Samsung Galaxy and one was using an iPhone 5 and neither of their images had that glow irradiating from everyone. Can specific cameras be more susceptible to this effect?
 

etphoto

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Thanks for the advice. You mentioned all cameras do this. I was sitting next to my wife and daughter. They both took similar pictures of the stage at about the same time. One was using a Samsung Galaxy and one was using an iPhone 5 and neither of their images had that glow irradiating from everyone. Can specific cameras be more susceptible to this effect?


The first picture you posted looks to me to be sun glare. Sun hitting the lens glass at a certain angle. All cameras will do that if the sun is hitting your lens. That is why I made the suggestion I did. The whites in the 2nd image does look over blown and dialing down the ISO might help that but it won't correct the streaks of light going through your image. Any change in settings you make will effect the whole image, not just the glares. If you state other camera at the same angle do not have the glare effect as yours, I have no clue on what it can be.

If you are able, take an indoor picture of a lamp with the light of the lamp turned on and see if you get the same effect. Then with the lamp behind the camera, take another picture of an object that it lite by the lamp and see what effect you get. If you wish, you can post those two test shots.
 

jwpear

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The first looks normal for a bright light source and other objects in front of the light. You got some lens flare and it appears the camera was trying to compensate for the bright sun in the shot.

The second picture looks like your camera lens was dirty--oil from your fingers. Did you clean it before taking the shot? I always clean my lens before taking important shots. It is just too easy to get it dirty. Use a good lens cleaner and soft cloth to clean and dry thoroughly for the best shots. The exposure could have been a little high too. Was the camera on auto or did you manually adjust? If auto, it might have been thrown off by the oil on the lens.

I've taken shots similar to yours, especially the second, with my 928 and they turned out fine as long as there was some incandescent light. Fluorescent light always seems to give them a bad tone, regardless of the camera.

Below are some shots I recently took with my 928 and the Nokia Camera app.

Here's one I took of the sunrise. I had to really cut down on the brightness setting.
WP_20140809_07_03_49_Pro.jpg

Here's one of my son with the sun rising in the background. I made sure he was blocking the sun and I adjusted the brightness down a little to capture just his silhouette.
WP_20140809_06_39_47_Pro.jpg

A shot with heavy lens flare due to the sun. I kind of like it for this shot, but wouldn't for others. Has that J.J. Abrams Star Trek feel.
WP_20140808_13_29_30_Pro.jpg

I adjusted the camera angle some to block the sun. Couldn't get quite the same shot, but there was no choice at the time of day--sun directly over head.
WP_20140808_13_22_14_Pro.jpg
 
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Jason Drum

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First picture looks normal and will happen with any camera. Second pictures looks like the lens has an oil smear from your finger on it.
 

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