What's that weird flare in my low-light shots?

OK, so the title of this post wasn't actually asked to me in that form. I have, however, run across people asking about it, and not all that long ago, I was trying to figure it out myself. Well, with thanks to my friend (and fellow photographer) John Cornicello for originally pointing me in the right direction, I've figured out that it's filter flare.

The article linked above does a pretty decent job of explaining it, so I won't go into more detail here at the moment. If you have any questions about it, though, do of course feel free to ask!

Ask Lindes

OK, I'm finally doing it. This is a new blog where I will take photography questions from people, and do my best to answer them in useful and meaningful ways. No question is too big or too small, though of course if the question is pertinent to types of photography that you know that I do, there's a better chance that I'll be able to answer it -- not all questions will be answered on the blog, though I'll do my best to respond to every question I get, if only in a private message.

Also, this will be a little different than most blogs in that I fully expect that I may well go back and edit old postings frequently, as I discover new facts, find better ways to express things, or the like.

I was going to do this on my own website, and may someday convert it to that... starting it out here, though.

By sending e-mail to the address listed in the header image for this blog (an anti-spam measure... hopefully it'll help), you agree to give me permission to publish the question here. If you'd like me not to, and/or you'd like to be anonymous, please say so. On the other hand, if you'd like me to link back to some site or page of yours, please also let me know that.

If you're asking about specific images (of mine, or anyone's), please be sure to include a link to the images in question.

OK, I think that covers the basics... I reserve the right to edit this posting as well, though. :-)