On 6 Sep 2001 05:13:36 -0700, r_adolphe@yahoo.com (reynald) wrote:

>i have a Canon Gl1 and Xl1. Any advice would be appreciated.

Since you would probably want the color to remain
almost unchanged, that leaves ND filters - but the
problem is that most of the image is at fairly normal
brightness levels, but with that pesky "hot" sun
plopped in it. I've had no problems shooting the sun
without filters when moving the camera, but I would
be reluctant to set it on a tripod for shooting the
sun. Four ideas: use a heavy ND filter (or crossed
linear polarizers - but this is likely to produce
nasty reflections between the parallel surfaces)
to reduce the light level some; wait for one of those
misty/humid days when the sun sits as an orange
orb in the sky, with a brightness hardly much above
that of the surrounding sky; shoot cloudy sunrises
and sunsets; shoot only when the sun is very near
the horizon (its brightness is likely to be
somewhat lower then).