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What are lens hoods really for and how do you use them?

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If you listen to folks on Facebook, you might think that lens hoods are designed as some form of mystical lens protection. They’re often touted as the alternative to UV filters as a way to defend your lens against the evils of the world that might otherwise turn it to glass dust.

But, no, their primary function is actually to flag stray light from entering into your lens and causing flare. In this video from Adorama TV, photographer David Bergman talks about lens hoods, when you might want to use one and when you might not.

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5 ways to avoid lens flare with studio lighting

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If you’re unfamiliar with what lens flare is then it’s the hazy washed out areas in an image that appear far brighter than they should do. You usually can’t see flare with your own eyes but when you take a shot, there it is and often it’s an undesired effect that can ruin several aspects of your photo including contrast.

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Quiz – can you match the lens to the flare it creates?

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Do you like lens flares? And I don’t mean those CGI flares. No sirs! We are talking about real lens flares made with real vintage lenses. Are you sharp enough to match the lens to the flare?

We know that it’s not easy because we made a lens flare package with real lenses and real flares for composites and adding a punch to photos. But even after playing with those lenses for a few days it was not easy to match a flare to a lens.

Hit the jump to test your flare to lens matching powers.

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Tutorial: Add a realistic lens flare to a photo in seconds

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Looking around it seems that technology is at its peak (well, read this in two or three years and laugh, but for now…). Cameras are almost noiseless, lenses are tack sharp and resolution is blowing off the roofs. To top it all, lenses have micro coating and nano coating eliminate any distortion.

And what do we do with those hyper-real photos? We apply Instagram filters and Nik filter. Then we post them online. Kinda funny, no? Gear makes are chacing optical perfection while the world is moving back to the 70’s and 50’s “damaged look”.

Stefan of the Image Manipulation Store came up with a fast and clever way to add realistic flares to any image in seconds. The cool thing is that they are no computerized, and are derived from real old lenses. (see video below)

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Is It Ever Okay To Add A Lens Flare In Photoshop? Yes, And Here’s How To Do It

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Photoshop makes adding lens flares to a photograph an incredibly simply task which is, both, good and bad. Though they can add a creative touch to a photo, lens flares can also be a great way to turn a good photo bad (really quickly). We’ve all seen those awkwardly placed lens flares that result in more confusion than awe. Luckily, we have Aaron Nace, who nicely explains when they should and shouldn’t used in this 15 minute tutorial. After he offers us his guidance on when to use a light flare, he’s kind enough to do a walk through of the process of actually doing so.[Read More…]

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