Wall, South Dakota. Badlands NP
I just had a workshop participant ask about this one, and it comes up a lot. Do you really need that annoying lens hood on your lens? Yes, you do. While many may think the lens hood is about eliminating light flare when you are pointing your camera towards the sun (which it does), I think of the hood as protecting my lens from rain, snow, impact and any number of things! I know some photographers are not fans of lens hoods, but I can’t count the number of times someone has dropped a lens in the parking lot and the lens hood took the impact saving the lens. If you have ever tried photographing in the rain and snow, you know how important a lens hood is…it keeps the rain off the front element. Even if there is no sun out, I will still be shooting with my lens hood attached. Anything to protect that front element from one more scratch, rain drop or accidental drop.