Smiling under the sun

[Tony M]

I took this photo earlier this year of my daughter in Casa de Campo, a reserve on the edge of Madrid. I wanted a composition with the sunlight framing the portrait. Any C&C would be much appreciated. There is some lens flare; could I have eliminated it with a lens hood? (I haven't got around to getting one.) I thought a lens hood reduces flare when the light source is out of the picture, and so it would not help here.

Photo details: Canon EOS 40D; 50mm lens; f/1.4; 1/3200s; ISO 200; spot metering.

[jiro]

The sun peeked out from your daughter's head so yes, you would surely have some flare. If you do a re-shoot, you can re-position the camera in such a way that the sun is just a tad below the head. That would create those nice rim lighting without the flares. You can increase your aperture to F/2.8 for a more sharper image though I would really recommend to go as small as f/4. Good luck.

[Tony M]

Thanks Jiro. I did shoot some other photos with the sun just below the head, as you advise, and I did get the nice rim lighting without the flare. That in fact answers my question: a lens hood wouldn't have helped, as it really is to prevent light entering the lens from outside the image frame.

I will try with a larger aperture as you suggest, to get a sharper image.

[jiro]

Hello, Tony. A larger aperture opening would mean a lower designated number. f/1.8 has a larger opening than f/4. The higher the number, the smaller the aperture opening is so my suggestion would mean that you close the aperture to get a smaller opening at f/4. Usually (but not as always depending on lens design) 2 f-stops higher than the largest aperture opening would give you the sharpest results. Hope this helps.

[Tony M]

Oops - I meant a smaller aperture! Thanks for your patient explanation, but don't worry, I'm not that ignorant of the basics!

[jiro]

My apologies. I did not mean to express it that way.