What am I doing wrong in these daylight photos?

[dav305z]

Good to know. And here I thought I had a pretty solid lens (it's one of Mamiya's defunct series). I will be vigilant with the lens hood.

 

[dav305z]

One more question, before this thread sinks beneath the waves: could a simple UV filter solve me help here? I've heard they're useless but maybe not...

 

[KmH]

Shooting film with a quality Skylight 1A UV filter on the lens may help.
B + W 72mm Skylight 1A Coated Glass Filter (KR1.5)

UV filters are of questionable help on digital cameras because the image sensor has, among others, a UV filter in front of it.

 

[Bulb]

One more question, before this thread sinks beneath the waves: could a simple UV filter solve me help here? I've heard they're useless but maybe not...

UV filters do help when shooting film. They'll cut down on any UV haze you might get when shooting outside.

It's worth a try.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I got a UV filters years ago, used it for a time then gradually got so I never used it anymore. I have one now that came with a lens I bought used and it's still on there doing not much of anything. I use a lens hood sometimes which can help prevent light from bouncing off the lens.

This to me doesn't really look like what I think of as lens flare; I think it can look whitish and appear more as streaks; usually it's coming from a light source that's bouncing off the lens. What I have gotten sometimes are spots that aren't perfectly round, you can often see the shape of them caused by the aperture blades, and it can be different colors (somewhat a rainbow like effect that you might see thru a prism).

Lens Flare: What Is It And How Do You Prevent It?

I suppose either a filter or lens hood could be worth trying to see if that prevents getting this effect; if it doesn't I guess you'll know something else is causing it.

 

[dav305z]

So, next batch. Admittedly, I did not conduct a good experiment here as I changed several variables at once. I used Fuji 100 color negative rather than Provia slide film, and I had it developed at a local drugstore rather than a dedicated photo store (Dwayne's). Oh, and I had to use a spare Mamiya body since the old one broke (these NC1000 cameras are not the hardiest but I own several spare bodies thanks to Ebay). On the other hand, I religiously used a UV filter and a lens hood at all times. The results are no doubt improved, but one odd thing: in a few photos, there was a fogged area at the very edge. I'm leaning toward blaming the developer since there are a few shots where my composition was identical but the fog only in one of them. Does anyone else have an idea?