Lens flare can be really hard to get rid of without editing your photos or video footage in post-production, but there are some things you can do before and after to help! The debate over whether lens flare is good or bad has been going on for decades. Some people like it because it adds depth to images and can create an artistic effect.
There are pros and cons to both sides so I encourage you to decide for yourself by looking at some of the examples in this article. Lens flare is a common occurrence in photography. Hard flares create brighter spots or streaks that can be distracting to viewers.
While soft flares produce softer more natural-looking flares which can add depth and beauty to the image. Lens flare is a common occurrence in photographs that are taken in the sun and usually causes bright spots or streaks. It can be caused by light reflecting off small particles on the camera lens.
Lens flares happen more often when shooting with wide-angle lenses, but they may also occur with longer focal lengths if there is a lot of sunlight present. There are many opinions about whether or not lens flares should be used as an effect for artistic purposes because some photographers see it as distracting from the subject, while others find it to be aesthetically pleasing.
Lens flare is a phenomenon caused by light reflecting off the small, flat surfaces of camera lenses. It is often considered to be something bad because it can potentially make an image look less sharp or even washed out.
But, not all lens flares are created equal. Some people love them because they add interest and texture to otherwise ordinary shots. So, what type of person are you? Do you like lens flares or do you hate them? The answer really depends on personal preference — what do you think? A lens hood is designed to protect the front of your camera lens.
It will block any stray light from entering the lens and causing a glare or flare in your images. If you are hoping to achieve a warm and soft atmosphere, then this is the type of lens flare for you. However, if you are looking for sharp, detailed images, then you'd better try to avoid this type of lens flare at all costs! Star bursts are an interesting way of harnessing lens flares.
An example of a sun star may be seen in the picture above. The more that you close down your aperture, the more that these rays will become visible in your images when shooting directly into the sun. This is one of those cases where having a sun flare may not be all that annoying, as it can add a lot of interest to your shot.
However, sun stars aren't for everyone and there are quite a lot of people out there who don't like this effect. Luckily, there are a few techniques that we can use to avoid or enhance lens flares, which we'll explore below. Sometimes, you really need to prevent lens flares from occurring.
While sun stars can be interesting, lens flares in the form of circles and rings that spread over your frame are not.
Sometimes, they may be easy to clone out, whereas other times you may find yourself spending hours trying to get rid of them in post-processing. In the image above, you can see a few of these lens flare circles in the area close to the sun, especially on the mountain. While they may not be noticeable at first, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and once you see them, it can be difficult to un-see them.
So here are a few techniques and tips with which you can avoid — or at least control — the lens flare. Lens flare is easy to deal with by taking a bracket of different exposures when you are shooting with a strong source of light in your frame.
Whenever you shoot into the sun, you are exposing for the light source, which means that you'll end up with a really dark image. There will often be close to no details in the rest of the landscape or at least in the shadowy parts of the frame.
Meanwhile, if you expose for the landscape and the shadows, you'll probably end up with a very bright shot and clipped out highlights, especially near the sun.
By bracketing, you'll be able to get around this by capturing the entire dynamic range of the scene. The procedure to make a multiple exposure or exposure bracketing when shooting with the sun in your frame is to:. Sometimes, you'll just need two shots, whereas other times, you might need five or six!
There's a finger in my shot! Basically, it involves taking a shot with a finger or your hand depending on the size of the flare over the sun. By covering the light source, the lens won't be affect by flares and you won't get any circles or colour casts in your image.
What can I do with a photo of a finger? This is a very simple tip. With the Live View mode turned on, you'll be able to better see all of the artefacts created by the lens flare. With the tripod, you'll be able to bracket multiple shots without moving your camera and subsequently, the composition. Shooting hand-held in the direction of the sun is really difficult, as you won't be able to see the artefacts in the viewfinder unless they are really big and you also won't be able to bracket or use the finger technique.
Lens Flare Explained Inside a camera lens , there are elements that work together to bend and focus the light onto your camera sensor. Lens flare may appear as: Hazy blob radiating outwards and getting weaker as it moves away from its center. Streaks or bands like in a drawing of sunbeams. Polygonal spots, typically with between 5 and 8 sides.
Ways to Avoid Lens Flare In order to prevent lens flare, you should know how it happens. Follow these helpful steps to minimize lens flare: Shoot with the light source behind you Use a lens hood to block the flare Plan your shoots near golden hour to avoid bright light Is the scene evenly lit? How to Use a Lens Hood One of the best ways to avoid lens flare is by using a lens hood, which can help protect your camera lens in other ways.
How to Photoshop Lens Flare As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When processing the image: Stack the two shots and mask your finger out of the flare-less image keeping both the better exposure of the landscape and the unblocked sun and sky portion. Alternatively, depending on the shot you might even be able to use a content aware fill to remove your finger and get the image you want from a single shot.
How to Remove Flare From an Image There are helpful tips to try to remove the flare from an image: Use a tool such as a clone or spot healing brush to automatically replace the flare spots.
Use adjustment layers to recover saturation and correct exposure or colors and then mask in the corrections. You might be able to clone in larger portions and carefully mask and blend multiple layers to erase larger areas of flare as well.
If you have more in-depth experience with retouching skin, such as with portraits and models, you can use some of the same techniques that you would use to even out skin tones. Frequency separation can be used to adjust color and saturation while keeping underlying textures. Browse the largest online selection of photo and video gear rentals and have them delivered right to your door!
Our blog is where you can learn about fellow image makers, discover new arrivals, and keep up on sales and other events. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. This often appears as a characteristic polygonal shape, with sides which depend on the shape of the lens diaphragm. It can lower the overall contrast of a photograph significantly and is often an undesired artifact, however some types of flare may actually enhance the artistic meaning of a photo.
Understanding lens flare can help you use it — or avoid it — in a way which best suits how you wish to portray the final image. The above image exhibits tell-tale signs of flare in the upper right caused by a bright sun just outside the image frame. These take the form of polygonal bright regions usually sides , in addition to bright streaks and an overall reduction in contrast see below.
The polygonal shapes vary in size and can actually become so large that they occupy a significant fraction of the image. Look for flare near very bright objects, although its effects can also be seen far away from the actual source or even throughout the image. Flare can take many forms, and this may include just one or all of the polygonal shapes, bright streaks, or overall washed out look veiling flare shown above. All but the simplest cameras contain lenses which are actually comprised of several "lens elements.
Lens elements often contain some type of anti-reflective coating which aims to minimize flare, however no multi-element lens eliminates it entirely. Light sources will still reflect a small fraction of their light, and this reflected light becomes visible as flare in regions where it becomes comparable in intensity to the refracted light created by the actual image. Flare which appears as polygonal shapes is caused by light which reflects off the inside edges of the lens aperture diaphragm , shown above.
Although flare is technically caused by internal reflections, this often requires very intense light sources in order to become significant relative to refracted light. Flare-inducing light sources may include the sun, artificial lighting and even a full moon. Even if the photo itself contains no intense light sources, stray light may still enter the lens if it hits the front element. In the visual example with flowers, the sun was not actually in the frame itself, but yet it still caused significant lens flare.
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