I'm looking for some advice- Sotol Vista

[Michael Lloyd]

This is a sunset shot towards Santa Elena Canyon from Sotol Vista in Big Bend National Park. I used a Daryl Bensen 3 stop reverse graduated neutral density filter (I hope I spelled his name right) to balance the scene as best as I could. In reality I was dealing with nearly 5 stops but I think a 4 stop filter would have made this better. I plan to go back with a 4 stop version in a few weeks... or so.

There is a lot of lens flare. Is there any way to mitigate that in camera?

I count this as another one of my almost got it right shots :D Any advice to improve it will be appreciated.

EOS1DsMKIII manual
35mm f1.4L tripod and a Daryl Bensen 3 stop reverse graduated neutral density filter in a Cokin P holder

ISO 400
1/60s @ f11

[Robert Amoruso]

Michael,

Sometimes I find if I hold my hand just right over the lens just out of the field of view, I can stop it. Try a piece of cardboard like the back of a note pad. Problem is small aperture for best DOF gives you flare.

When I get it, I will clone it out.

I like the comp. The two plants on the right balance with the distant mountains on the left and back to the sun on the right. Nice colors in the sky too.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Michael,Good advice offered by Robert. Sometimes when I have this situation I put my hat over the top of the lense(obviously not covering it). As Robert suggested sometimes this will take out a flare solely dependant on what angle the light is coming from. When your facing a head on bright sun this can be difficult to eliminate.
I also like the way you handled the comp and would remove the flares in PS...

[Michael Lloyd]

Thanks Robert and Dave. I think I'll give PS a try. I'll try the hand / cardboard trick next time. I'm thinking that with a 35mm lens and the angle I had to deal with I would still get flare. I have another shot without flare but the composition is lame due to the angle. Thankfully we have the digital darkroom :)

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Michael,
Great advice offered above! One thing no one mentioned is that many times the filters cause the flare (that sucks!)......even with the blocking! That reverse grad ND is next on my list.....really worked wonders here and I agree with your assesment that a bit stronger would have been even better. You may try atacking a normal split ND....1 or 2 stop......may do the same thing w/o spending extra $! Very nice comp and worth the extra flare clean up. BTW....try a screen blend layer (similar to multiply....just pick screen to lighten in Robert's tutorial) on the FG with a touch of contrast boost there.....really will bring this up a notch and make this a keeper!

[Michael Lloyd]

Thanks Roman... right now finding the time to revisit the shot is a bit of a problem :D but I'll get back to it. I'm thinking about making another trip out there soon. If I do I'll try the ND trick that you mentioned