So I was shooting a time-lapse of the sun rising today and two things happen to me. First as the sun was rising I got this horrible lens flare even with the lens hood on. What I think happened was that the sun was directly parallel to my lens causing the issue. So my question there is... How do you prevent that from happening before starting the time-lapse? 2nd what is the ideal time to start/interval a sunrise?
Any help would be a appreciated thanks!
You won't be able to prevent a lens flare, if your Lens renders one, I fear. Just use another lens. The modern lenses normally don't show that artifacts that much.
I understand there is no way to eliminate a lens flare but only to minimize it as much as possible. I agree - going with a better lens would probably help my problem. Here are another two thoughts I had. After the sun had risen and my shot was compromised by the horrible lens flare I started adjusting my camera in live view mode. I noticed that tilting my lens slight down decreased the amount of flare being produced in the shot. I also noticed as I increased the focal length the lens flare was not as apparent.
So this is what I took away from the situation. If you are shooting at a focal length less than 18-30mm I recommend that you tilt your lens slightly down to minimize lens flare.
At 200mm the lens flare issue is not much of an issue.