Question about a "halo" in my photos

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Robert Benson on November 7, 2010 at 9:40am

any chance you can attach the photo so I can see what's going on? Could be a number of things. Lens flare most likely or could be something on your lens or sensor.

Permalink Reply by Trish Lester on November 7, 2010 at 10:42am

I hope this comes thru ok.....I put it in a smaller file so it would load easier......you won't notice the halo till you start to bring it up closer....

Permalink Reply by Robert Benson on November 8, 2010 at 6:55am

It is hard to see. I think I see what you are talking about and it looks like it may be jpeg compression artifacts. Are you shooting jpeg or RAW and how are you processing? You should be using RAW 99.9% of the time. The only time I don't use raw is when I have to process hundreds of images quickly and only have to make small prints. We used to shoot softball/baseball tournaments, dozens of shots of each plater and had to get the pics in the computer and ready to print quickly so we shot jpeg because they upload faster. Other than that, always RAW!
Honestly its very hard to tell what's going on in this pic (the halo) unless I make it really, really large.

Permalink Reply by Trish Lester on November 8, 2010 at 7:50am

hi...yes i'm shooting raw. i process them thru photoshop elements 9. i do have photoshop 7, and i can't afford the upgrade....apparently they only go back 3 versions for the upgrade price, which is why i bought elements. elements has a few of the new tools that cs5 came out with. i don't know if "halo" is the right term...i'm thinking it's cuz of the brightness of the water and sky that when you enlarge the photo, you can really see the whatever you call it. it's on his head, neck, and top of the shirt to the left, and then the entire tree line has it also. i'm thinking i needed a particular filter, or maybe a different setting??? not sure....i'm just starting all over. i used to do film a zillion years ago, and with this new camera i have to relearn it all, and also figure out all the neat settings this thing has.....i guess i was looking for a quick solution....maybe someone else did this and found out how to prevent it. oh....when i bring the raw photo in.....it's there, the halo thingy...which i can see when enlarging it....hence again....i feel it may be setting issue or filter...any thoughts on that?

Permalink Reply by Robert Benson on November 8, 2010 at 5:05pm

Again, I am having a hard time seeing what you have there. It could also possibly be chromatic aberration? Maybe? Look that up if you don't know what it is. Some lenses are prone to it in certain conditions. I don't know much about Pentax and the quality of their glass but CA can be a problem for less "expensive" lenses.

Permalink Reply by Trish Lester on November 8, 2010 at 7:09pm

BINGO! I researched that and that's exactly what it is! very cool cuz now I also found some good tutorials on getting rid of it. I also brought it back into elements in raw and played with the settings and was able to remove almost all of it.....nice to know! I had no problems in the other photos I took of him...had different backgrounds(trees, leaves, etc, away from the water)....seems like the heavy contrast really brought that out. I love learning! thanks so much for your help!

Permalink Reply by Robert Benson on November 10, 2010 at 4:07pm

No problem. Yes, CA can be a problem in high contrast situations. Fortunately, there are software remedies. While they are not always 100%, you can also fix it with other remedies such as cloning, etc. This takes a lot of time but can be worth it. As I mentioned, the really, really expensive lenses are a better bet to avoid it but we are all (myself included) on budgets these days so sometimes we have to get what we can get and find solutions to deal with them.

Happy shooting!

Permalink Reply by Trish Lester on November 10, 2010 at 6:55pm

fersure! I know maybe one of these days I'll be able to afford a better lens. but for now, I'm pretty happy with what I have. thanks so much again for helping to figure it out!

happy shooting back at ya!