Lens flare question/help

Matt L

Matt L

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Matt
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How would you purposly get this to come up on an image? I would like to do a portrait of someone with a bit of a flare on it but if im honest i have no idea how lens flare is caused so dont know how to purposly get it, i just end with it by mistake :lol:

Matt
 
Lens flare is basically caused by light striking the lens and bouncing around inside it.

So, if you want lens flare then include a light source in your viewfinder and don't use a lenshood.
Use a small aperture if you want the flare to be sharply defined, use a large aperture if you don't
 
You need to shoot into the sun, so no chance in the UK.
I would assume wide aperture and at a bit of an angle so the sun gets to bounce off the inside of the lens. Bad idea to shoot straight into the sun, eyes are a bit delicate.
 
All lenses are different, and react to flare differently at various f/numbers and focal lengths.

Easy way to provoke it is to smear a little clear grease on a UV filter - a little goes a long way! Butter, Vaseline, lard, cooking oil. Cling film over the lens is another good one. You'll get some soft-focus as well as flare that way - soft-focus is where bright objects appear to glow, good for female portraits. Again f/number etc changes the effect a lot.

A less obvious form of flare is veiling glare, which is a general loss of contrast over the whole image. When it's bad it looks like fog, when it's not bad it often goes unnoticed, or unidentified. Which is bad ;)

If you have the light source in the frame, a lens hood won't make any difference. Lens hoods are most effective at reducing veiling glare from bright light outside the image area.
 
You can add flare quite effectively in photoShop :)
 
HoppyUK said:
All lenses are different, and react to flare differently at various f/numbers and focal lengths.


A less obvious form of flare is veiling glare, which is a general loss of contrast over the whole image. When it's bad it looks like fog, when it's not bad it often goes unnoticed, or unidentified. Which is bad ;)

If you have the light source in the frame, a lens hood won't make any difference. Lens hoods are most effective at reducing veiling glare from bright light outside the image area.
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a general loss of contrast over the whole image
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- just overlight a white background, post the shot on an internet forum and bask in praise:lol:

Agreed, a lens hood won't make any difference if the light source is in frame - but a good one (a rarity) can make a huge difference if the light source isn't in frame - so leaving the lens hood off and having the light source just outside the frame is a good way of getting controlled flare
 
Matt L said:
Cheers, looks like ill have to have a play with my flash guns for now to see if i can get any flare.
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It's easy enough to see what kind of flare your lens produces but pointing it at any small bright light, if the ambient light is low enough. Even a torch will do.

Bear in mind that just looking through the viewfinder isn't representative - you get extra flare from the viewfinder optics, and will miss anything that might be provoked by reflections off the sensor - they can be very noticeable if you have a filter fitted. Plus as mentioned the aperture makes a difference - just shoot real pics, with the light on, then off for comparison.

Flare is unpredictable and hard to control. Photoshop might be the best option.
 
Here's how I do it in PhotoShop - create a new layer on TOP of the picture - fill with 100% BLACK - use the Render - Lens Flare filter on that black layer - position of the flare doesn't really matter - change layer to SCREEN - now position the flare exactly where you want it - change opacity of layer to get the effect looking right - job done! :) Give it a go!
 
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