But this happens without using flash too.
What causes and how to photoshop out these round light spots?
- Thread starter atikovi
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It is more common with a flash, but can occur without flash use as well, from tiny pieces of dirt, dust, bugs, water droplets, or condensation near, in or on the lens, and depending on the lighting. They’re caused by retro-reflection of light. Quite common, and no they are not spirits. 
Many other examples, so whats the best way to avoid it? Moving the camera around helps some but do newer models eliminate this issue?
I'd suspect-as mentioned-dust inside the lens scattering light. It's possible also it's junk on the sensor, although that's usually more of a problem with interchangeable lens cameras(and tends to be a bit more concentrated).
I tried to massage it out with the dehaze brush in Photoshop on the last image(the one of the wheel) but the best I could do was send that area too dark. Global dehaze just makes the image look funny.
I SUSPECT that it could be massaged out a bit better if starting with a RAW file if the camera gives the option for that. The RAW file would give more freedom to adjust the exposure after dehazing in that spot.
I would not consider the spot healing brush an appropriate tool to use, although I did try it. Spot healing tends to try and mimick the area around where you're applying the brush. It's great for making certain details disappear, but not for something like this where you need the underlying detail in the area.
I tried to massage it out with the dehaze brush in Photoshop on the last image(the one of the wheel) but the best I could do was send that area too dark. Global dehaze just makes the image look funny.
I SUSPECT that it could be massaged out a bit better if starting with a RAW file if the camera gives the option for that. The RAW file would give more freedom to adjust the exposure after dehazing in that spot.
I would not consider the spot healing brush an appropriate tool to use, although I did try it. Spot healing tends to try and mimick the area around where you're applying the brush. It's great for making certain details disappear, but not for something like this where you need the underlying detail in the area.
I've "fixed" similar areas with Photoshop using the Clone Stamp Tool. The only thing with this tool is I don't know how to define the sampling area. I don't really know how to use 90% of PS tools but this particular one works for me in most cases.
Here's another shot at it. This isn't perfect but it cleaned it up some. As I said, working with a RAW file would probably make this a lot easier, or even a higher resolution JPEG
Basically I masked off the spots with a brush(each one in its own separate layer) then played with the dehaze, clarity, and exposure for each spot until it was mostly gone.
Basically I masked off the spots with a brush(each one in its own separate layer) then played with the dehaze, clarity, and exposure for each spot until it was mostly gone.
It's a massive ghost fart.From Sony:
What are "orbs"?
If specs of dust particles are floating in the air when you're taking a picture, they can be illuminated by the light of the flash and sometimes appear in the image as white, round glare spots, also known as "orbs". This symptom tends to occur in low-light environments when using a compact digital camera because of the proximity of the flash to the lens assembly. It is not a malfunction.
From Wikipedia:
In photography, backscatter (also called near-camera reflection[1]) is an optical phenomenon resulting in typically circular artifacts on an image, due to the camera's flash being reflected from unfocused motes of dust, water droplets, or other particles in the air or water. It is especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras.[2][3]
A hypothetical underwater instance with two conditions in which circular photographic artifacts are likely (A) and unlikely (B), depending on whether the aspect of particles facing the lens are directly reflect the flash, as shown. Elements are not shown to scale.
Caused by the backscatter of light by unfocused particles, these artifacts are also sometimes called orbs, referring to a common paranormal claim. Some appear with trails, suggesting motion.[4]
