Help with lens flare from street lights

Lambsbread

I'm looking for a little help on this photo I was trying to take at night. It was a windy last night so I wanted to get a night shot with some good cloud movement. However, the street lights caused really bad light artefacts on the photo that you can see here:http://imgur.com/Pa682l6. Is there any way around this?

I know the photo is blurry as I my tripod couldn't handle the wind.

I was shooting with a canon 50mm f1.8 II @f/8 and a canon 550d. When I tried to increase the aperture to f/5.6 or f/4 it had no effect on the photo. I had a lens hood on, but it really does nothing as the light is coming from straight on. I had no UV or other filters on the lens.

Normally, I shoot multiple photos in portrait and merge them in photoshop.
I am looking to get a new lens at the moment (Sigma 17-50) and I really want to get more into night photography, but will this lens be better?
Thanks in advance for any comments!

Myksyk

Lambsbread wrote: »

I'm looking for a little help on this photo I was trying to take at night. It was a windy last night so I wanted to get a night shot with some good cloud movement. However, the street lights caused really bad light artefacts on the photo that you can see here:http://imgur.com/Pa682l6. Is there any way around this?

I know the photo is blurry as I my tripod couldn't handle the wind.

I was shooting with a canon 50mm f1.8 II @f/8 and a canon 550d. When I tried to increase the aperture to f/5.6 or f/4 it had no effect on the photo. I had a lens hood on, but it really does nothing as the light is coming from straight on. I had no UV or other filters on the lens.

Normally, I shoot multiple photos in portrait and merge them in photoshop.
I am looking to get a new lens at the moment (Sigma 17-50) and I really want to get more into night photography, but will this lens be better?
Thanks in advance for any comments!

Take a second shot exposing for those lights (rest of image will be significantly underexposed) and merge the lights into the shot in Photoshop.

Lambsbread

Thanks. I'll have to try that next time.

I tried to shift the point of view and then cut and merge out the worst part of the flair, which got over the worst of it:

Chicago North Side Skyline by AindriuH, on Flickr

I guess I am getting as much as I can out of a €100 lens.

Myksyk

I don't think this is much if anything to do with the lens. It's a 20 second exposure so you're going to get those lights spiking regardless. Aperture will play a part but I'm guessing luminance will remain pretty much the same unless you expose for them directly. This would be the standard way of balancing the luminance in a shot like this. The merging in PS is relatively straightforward [although it would probably be done most cleanly using luminosity masking, which typically requires extra plug-ins ... but it's not absolutely necessary].

Lambsbread

Well, its not so much the street lights spiking, but the blue cast reflections from them that's the problem: http://imgur.com/CmE2SxD

I've cropped the worst out from the sky in the first image posted.

Myksyk

LOL. Then I've just given you a lot of useless advice!

Lambsbread

No problem

fret_wimp2

Myksyk wrote: »

LOL. Then I've just given you a lot of useless advice!

It didn't help this particular situation but it was no doubt a good learning experience in trying.

Iancar29

Usually only occurs with lenses wide open. For me its happens shooting at f2.8 and solve it by stopping down to f3.5 , f8 there shouldn't be that big of an issue... I'd say you'll just need a better lens tbh.