gotten eaten alive getting these shots, but it was still fun.

 

Last one is my fav, although the flare (large one, not the small green one) detracts a bit.

Otherwise, nice composition!

 

thanks stogie. I appreciate your specific input, but now you lead me to ask;

how could I have taken this same shot and avoided the flare?

I only had my uv filter on at the time, should I have used my circular polarizer?

I also didn't look at my highlights screen to see if I had any "blinkys", would that have hinted to me to make adjustments?

as a total noob I appreciate any info that will help me shoot better.

 

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was likely your UV filter that caused the flare. If so, simply removing it and shooting without any filters would have been your best bet.

Flare aside, polarizers have a maximum effect when shooting at 90 degree angles from the Sun. So in the case of your images, where you're essentially shooting straight into the Sun, the polarizier would have had very little -if any- effect.

 

thanks billiam, after looking around about flare I have seen the exact two things your pointing out come up frequently. thanks for the tip, I will definitely have to be more aware when shooting sun up or down shots.

 

When shooting toward the sun, remove all filters, unless you need a ND or something for the exposure.

Having said that, I think sometimes the flare adds something to the shot, just not with this particular composition.