17 Creative Uses of Lens Flare (And How to Get The Effect Yourself)

By Light Stalking on 27 Feb 2012 in Cool Photos, Featured[ 10 Comments ]

For many years in photography, lens flare was actively avoided by photographers. Flare, which is basically light scattered within the lens due to unplanned reflection and lens impurities, was considered as something that ruined a photograph. Equipment like lens hoods were invented to help prevent it. But times change and so do fashions.

These days, not only to many photographers not mind some lens flare, they actively seek to get it to add some creativity to their shots. And, to be fair, quite often it looks pretty cool. Check out these great examples of creative lens flare and look at the resources at the end to find out how to shoot with or without lens flare in your own shots.

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/megnphotography/5551145297

[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/megnphotography/555114529777/365[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/megnphotographymeghannash[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikey_blue_eyes/6687353445[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikey_blue_eyes/6687353445Angelena[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/mikey_blue_eyesMike Monaghan – www.bluesunsetdesign.com[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexxus/5890431924[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexxus/5890431924absolute[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/dexxuspaul (dex)[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/crsan/3697785107[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/crsan/3697785107Metallica at Rock Werchter 2009 ♫♪[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/crsancrsan – christianholmer.com[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinpurcell/4504792034[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinpurcell/4504792034Untitled[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/erinpurcellErin Purcell[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/terykats/5710664873[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/terykats/5710664873grass and flare[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/terykatsTeryKats[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/1309205003[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/1309205003Jackie Martinez (#28440)[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/markjsebastianmark sebastian[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/itslegitx/6151133140[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/itslegitx/6151133140Kissed By the Sun[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/itslegitxMR photography.[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcrael/5058870410[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcrael/5058870410Lens Flare and Sand[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/mcraelMichael C. Rael[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/itslegitx/6294191397[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/itslegitx/6294191397Autumn’s Light[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/itslegitxMR photography.[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/3965367650[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/3965367650Alanna Kolette (#91896)[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/markjsebastianmark sebastian[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/matte4president/6146166461[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/matte4president/6146166461Flare.[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/matte4presidentMatteo Paciotti | Photography[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/eflon/3639368302[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/eflon/3639368302handlebars[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/efloneflon[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanant/4955774311[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanant/4955774311Hip[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/alanantIllusive Photography[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/theroyceng/5542017114[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/theroyceng/5542017114Untitled[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/theroycengTheRoyceNg[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethbrooks/5934595421[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethbrooks/5934595421Daisy DOF[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/garethbrooksGareth Brooks[/url], on Flickr

=http://www.flickr.com/photos/justintosh/2592405645[/url]
=http://www.flickr.com/photos/justintosh/2592405645Solar Energy[/url] by =http://www.flickr.com/people/justintoshJustinLowery.com[/url], on Flickr

Lens Flare Links and Tutorials

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

10 Comments

Marco:
Excellent examples of lens flare. I have been exploring lens flare on the iphone, and I would be interested in doing a guest post.
By the way I follow your posts, especially the weekly ones on what’s interesting in photography. Thanks for sharing.
February 27, 2012 at 5:26 pmReply
JP Henfrey:
Lens flare looks great, but I agree – it’s best when it happens naturally. I’ve found iphone photos can accidentally end up with amazing lens flare effects (due to the crappy lens I guess!) Here’s an iphone one of mine http://www.site.mwpics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_3728.jpg
And there’s a really nice one in this gallery – in fact, when I look through my galleries I realise I seem to use it quite a lot.
http://www.site.mwpics.com.au/galleries/rural-and-garden-photography/
March 2, 2012 at 3:30 pmReply
Russ:
Like tilting the camera and other goofy shenanigan’s, this is hopefully a passing fad. I’m surprised that it is still being employed.
To quote C.J. Chilvers,
“If you can’t say what you need to say in a photograph without
heaping layers of software filters or resorting to the latest
trends in post processing, you’re probably not saying much
of anything.”
—C.J. Chilvers
March 2, 2012 at 8:17 pmReply
tomdinning:
“When someone quotes a person most of the planet has never heard of and really doesn’t have any credibility anyway, just to get their point across, you’re probably not saying much either”
Tom Dinning ( Light Stalking forum, 2012)
March 3, 2012 at 5:36 pmReply