Lens Flare

As you know, I spend many, many hours a day scouring the Internet for good things to pass your way. Okay – actually – I monitor my extensive RSS feed that is chock full of other photography blogs. And sometimes something catches my eye. Today – it was two degrees of separation. I saw an article on Popular Photography’s website that referenced this rather well spoken article on Lens Flare. Flare is something a lot of new photographers have to deal with – and so often it’s something noticed after the fact.

Sometimes you want flare – it’s an artistic statement. Sometimes you just can’t avoid flare – because you’re shooting right into a light source. But you’d rather the resultant flare be a choice – and not a mistake.

I made this shot far from Central Illinois – in the mountains of southern Utah’s Zion National Park. And I was going for the flare based on a reflection of some kind on the mountain.

The flare can be seen as a distortion around the reflection on the mountain as the sun set. But in this case I think it adds a certain drama to the image. And the more times you do that on purpose, the more you can cite it when a mistake is made. “Well – it was just artistic.” But, all joking aside, sometimes you DO NOT want to see flare. The article above should help for those moments when you just want to see what’s there…