Halo sun-blocker - eliminate internal lens reflections!

• telescoping rod:

• Saw off the hand end; put in a screw so the head stops the film canister cap from falling off. Base usually has a small threaded hole for a bolt. Can also use a radio antenna - remember those?
• Occulting disk - dark plastic. Hole in the middle that fits the end of the rod; radial cut to allow you to slip it on
• Cork for tension
• Assortment of washers and bolts - at least one is a wing nut, easiest for adjusting tension when wearing gloves in winter
• Flat metal strip, right angle metal strip (or can bend a straight one after heating)
• When using without a tripod, you need a 1/4-20 to attach it to the camera base. A 3/4-inch long is fine. I epoxied the hex head into a small block of wood so it is easy with gloves to get the tension just right

Other points to consider:

• You can easily aim the occulting disk because you can see its shadow on the lens
• Use cork to control the tension on the extension arm, so you can adjust quickly between off-center to center
• Tripod reduces effort in post because all the images will be registered compared to shifts when hand-holding
• If you want to eliminate most of the extension rod in the photo, then take TWO sets of bracketed shots, one vertical, one horizontal; in post you can mask them out with the other shot.