Nothing could be more mundane yet important than lens hoods – they reduce flare, protect the lens if dropped and make the front of the lens look really refined. Yet nothing is more frustrating and even comical than taking the hood on and off while adjusting your polarizer filter.
To make matters worse, it’s impossible to take the hood off some lens without removing the polarizer – here you witness the reach technique where the photographer reaches into the front of the lens trying to adjust the polarizer while viewing the landscape through his or her hands – challenging, if not impossible.
I can propose a solution – leave the len’s hood at home. If you are having issues with flare as a landscape photographer, you’re shooting at the wrong times (see When to shoot Landscape photography.) In those rare instances that you do have the sun in the lens, use your hat to shade the lens. To protect you lens, use a lens cap. Finally, it’s more important to be concerned about having your image look refined than your camera.
There are of course instances where lens hoods are important – sports photography is a good example. Landscape photography, because of the fact that a circular polarizer is often used and needs to be adjusted and because of the times of the day that we shoot landscapes really mitigates the necessity of lens hoods.
Make your photography enjoyable and efficient, again simplicity and minimalism – leave the lens hood at home.
