There was a time when images with lens flare were viewed as “mistakes” – but many photographers today actually strive for this effect in their photos. Whether the goal is a warm hazy glow, distinct flare shapes, sunburst rays or rainbows, flare can create a mood and enhance the feeling of warmth and light playing through an image.
Shooting directly into the sun is tricky, however, and there are several things I have learned in my experience that you might find helpful when shooting to achieve lens flare:
1. The best times of day for flare are when the light is directional, or when the sun is lower in the sky – morning or evening. I have found sunset lighting to be the best personally because the color is a bit warmer, and the light more intense.
Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8 @f/2.8 | RAW recovery in LR, Luxe action in PS.
2. Having the ability to control your exposure (i.e. not shooting in auto) is a MUST in order to capture the best flare. In auto settings, your camera is going to attempt to expose the image for the brightest light source – the sun – thus underexposing your subject and the entire image. Shooting in manual will allow you to expose for your subject properly.
Canon 5D, Canon 50mm 1.8 @f/1.8 | After The Rain preset in LR.
3. Flare will appear different, or may be more or less difficult to catch, depending on which lens you use and which focal length you are shooting with. This is because flare is a result of light refracting through various internal parts of your lens. Generally speaking, there are more elements within a zoom lens than a prime for the light to refract on, although other factors will come into play no matter which lens you use. Also, in general newer lenses are more flare-resistant than older ones. You will also want to make sure you shoot without a lens hood if you are shooting for flare. My current personal favorite lens is the Nikkor 50mm 1.8G because of the soft, glowy way it renders light; I have also captured some beautiful flare with the Canon 50mm 1.8 as well, which costs under $100. The 24-70mm 2.8 lens from Canon is also great for capturing a variety of flare including rainbow rings and bubbles.
4. I highly recommend shooting in RAW for flare, because an overexposed background/light source is a given when attempting these types of shots – and exposure mistakes can happen easily. Any detail you can recover afterwards, especially details in your subject or the flare, can make a huge difference in your overall result. In the before/after example below, I was too overexposed for this lighting situation, and my subject was almost completely lost in the brilliant backlight, were it not for the ability to recover details in my RAW file. Would this have been shot in jpg, it would not have been salvageable.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-70mm 2.8 @f/2.8 | RAW recovery in LR, Clarified, Intensified tools in PS, Summer’s Dream action in PS.
5. You will need to move around a lot to “find” flare. I like shooting with the sun in the corner of my frame (as in the below example), or partially hidden behind my subject or something in the background, like a tree. Once you have your composition in sight, change your angle until you find flare. Something as simple as tilting the camera slightly up or to the side could change the type of flare or how drastic it is.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-70mm 2.8 @f/2.8 | Retro Curve preset in LR.
6. Many flare images look beautiful straight out of camera, but most times, post processing can better enhance them. SOOC flare shots often have extreme reddish or orange casts, or the colors and contrasts may have been washed out. Typically, flare shots need patient color work and individual tweaking, depending on the lighting, exposure and white balance.
In the following example, here were my steps to the final result:
This is my SOOC, shot on a Canon 5D and Canon 50mm 1.8 lens @f/1.8. You can see that the overall tones are very orange.
Here I applied my Midwinter preset along with the Periwinkle Tint in Lightroom to give a neutral color base to work with.
For the final edit in Photoshop, I used my Kicked & Intensified Tools for contrast and “punch”, Patience action at 10% for brightening up her skin tone and Cinematic action at 100% for colors.
There are endless ways to play with flare shots – it’s simply up to your imagination and the feeling you want to create.
Happy editing,
Rebecca Lily