Christmas Tree Lights

I'm hoping to get a sort of dreamy/ethereal shot of my daughter by the tree this Christmas. Minimal ambient light - trying to use the tree lights exclusively if possible. Just fooling around this evening with a manual focus 50mm lens. Getting some weird artifacts, especially noticable on my daughter. In shot two it looks like the "bugs" from Avatar. Kind of a cool effect if I could control it.

Can anyone tell me what I am seeing? Thanks!

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Do you have a filter on your lens?

gonzogolf wrote in post #11495062
Do you have a filter on your lens?

yep - a Soligor 1A. I think it is just a basic UV filter, but I'm not really sure. It came with the lens.

You are probably getting flare from the little point lights, try taking the filter off and see if it doesnt go away.

gonzogolf wrote in post #11495122
You are probably getting flare from the little point lights, try taking the filter off and see if it doesnt go away.

Thanks - I will give it a try.

Why didn't I think of that???

The flare is very distracting

What your seeing is reflections forom the lights bouncing around on the Filter or maybe even off of different elements in the lens. Sometimes you can get this simply from haveing direct lighting sources in the frame. Kinda like headlights on a car coming at you. It cn be saved tho

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Did you intend on an OOF shot?

It looks as if a little fill in flash would have helped.

The filter was indeed the culprit here. No filter; no flares. Thanks for the quick diagnosis.

GorgeShooter wrote in post #11498898
Did you intend on an OOF shot?

Not trying to be OOF, but also not caring about being in sharp focus. Trying to get "enough" focus on child + have that glowing quality to tree lights, if that makes sense.

corkneyfonz wrote in post #11499000
It looks as if a little fill in flash would have helped.

I agree, but I'm not sure I can add enough fill to help without killing the effect I am going for. Will try some shots that way though.

lecherro wrote in post #11497369
What your seeing is reflections forom the lights bouncing around on the Filter or maybe even off of different elements in the lens. Sometimes you can get this simply from haveing direct lighting sources in the frame. Kinda like headlights on a car coming at you. It cn be saved tho

Thanks for the edit!