Hello,
There was a recent post concerning lens hoods and flare, and I would
like to make one late comment.
Robert in Redlands wrote: >> I presume that all the shots were taken
with the sun in front of or slightly to the side of the photographer, if
the sun was behind you, the hood would hardly make a difference unless
there was a highly reflective object right beside you.<<
One of the things I have done was shooting photos for our local
newspaper, and I found that a lens hood was mandatory when shooting at
night, especially at or near a crime scene. I can remember a call at
about 3 AM, sending me to shoot an airplane crash where the flight path
of Stockton Field passes over Highway 99. It was a cold and rainy night,
and the light plane had touched down east of 99, and slid in the mud to
a stop in the middle of the north bound lanes. There were flares and
flashing lights as far as the eye could see, as well as the headlights
of the cars passing the location in the southbound lanes. Shooting at
night and n the rain are usually bad enough, but all of the spurious
lights and reflections made it a nightmare. I shot three rolls of film
through three Olympus bodies, and similar lenses, with lens hoods on
two of the three lenses. To make it short, I found that the flare and
glare had done a number on my compositions, but none of the shots from
the lens without a hood were usable, despite the fact that this lens was
the least prone to flare of the three. There was a ton of flare on the
other cameras, but there were also plenty of usable shots. As a result,
I always use the proper lens hoods on all of my lenses.
Adios,
Bill Hilburn Jr.
