Shooting with the sun in front of me

thegrons

Hello,

I have a Canon 60D and the kit lens as well as a 10-18mm lens. Regardless of the lens, when the sun is in front of me at any time of the day the sky separates into a very distinctive two tone of dark and light blue. I don't get any lens flare but just the weird color which looks like a very sharp gradient that goes diagonally across the sky. I use a lens hood and no filter. I never had this problem with my Rebel XS. Is there something I can do to avoid this?

ohyeahar

Best to upload an example. The first thing to come to me is that maybe you need a polarizing filter for these instances where you’re shooting into the sun at the sky.

thegrons

Thanks. How do I attach a photo? For the time being I used a sample as my forum picture to show the issue with the purple. One fellow told me to shoot at f/22 so the camera has more time to assess the color issues?

ohyeahar

You’ll need to upload it elsewhere to a photo sharing site and then share the link here.

The profile picture you uploaded is very tiny but I do see the weird color issue you mentioned. Doesn’t seem like a polarizing filter is your answer. You can try stopping down the aperture but I’m not sure how much that would help.
Maybe the camera is doing some weird “optimization” during the JPG conversion process. I would try a couple things:

- Look at what Picture Style you’re using. If you’ve edited any, restore them back to default and try the shot.
- Try the shot with the Neutral Picture Style.
- Shoot in RAW and review the shot on your PC to see if the color issue is still there.

PBked

Hi,
This may sound like an obvious suggestion, but have you examined the front and rear elements of your lens? I had exactly the same problem some years ago and it turned out to be a very small grease smear on the rear element. It was actually very difficult to see until I examined it closely in very good light. A good clean and my purple/blue skies were gone.
Regards,
PBked

thegrons

Thanks all,

I have been shooting in RAW and I will check the rear element of the lens, though it is happening with both lenses and I wonder if it is something else? Before I was able to get the weird purple I shot 6 other shots and they came out looking good, but that was the exception and not the rule. I wonder if using the lens hood is doing something strange?

I reshot right into the sun and the color was fine, though the rays made a nice shot with the aperture blades. Stepped it down to f/22 and it looked good except now I have to clean my image sensor because the dust shows at the small aperture settings. I think I ought to do a few practice shots into the sun before I take my shot? Maybe something isn't adjusting fast enough especially since I am bracketing my shots for HDR so the first shot is under exposed and maybe the camera can't adjust to the light coming up from a -2 exposure value?

TheGaffer

I'd strongly recommend NOT viewing or pointing a camera directly at the sun!
The 60D's manual is littered with advice about this - pages 36, 125, 153, 173 and 306.

mikejduk

I agree with the Gaffer. Not a good idea shooting directly in to the sun. However, if you have no other option to get the shot, stop down at least one full stop and don't use Auto white balance. Use the daylight setting. Your ISO should be at its lowest, 100 on the 60D. When setting up your shot, switch on your histogram so you can see where and how much your image is blowing out. You may be left with no other choice but to use a filter.