Most certainly you have seen a lens flare appear in some of your photographs when the sun hits your lens. Whether it is a lens on your camera, or on your cell phone, lens flare will appear when the sun or any bright light hits any part of your lens.
Sometimes lens flares are a major distraction in a photo and you work hard at trying to prevent it when you notice it. It’s much easier to avoid a lens flare than it is to remove it once it is captured.
Sometimes though you can see the lens flare and choose to incorporate the flare in the composition of your photograph, which is what I did in this image. By tilting the lens up a tiny bit or down a tiny bit, left and right a bit you are able to move that flare around in your image. I took a few like this and this was the image that did it for me of the four or five variations that I took. In this photo, I feel that the lens flare makes the photograph all the more interesting. Also, when the sun is near the dead center you really can’t avoid it at all. It’s best to get creative and if possible put the flare where it makes the most sense in your photograph.
You should give it a try and see what you come up with. Maybe you already have some images with a flare that you could share here for inspiration? I know I would love to see what you have done. And if you haven’t done it yet, come back and share an image after you have tried it.
Here are the settings for this photograph: f/18, 1/320 sec, ISO 125 and 150mm. The lens I used was the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L series lens.
