Canon® EOS Digital Photography Photo Workshop

5.10. ASSIGNMENT

Creating Images with Flare

Lens flare can be something you don't want in a photo or it can provide a nice artistic touch. While it can occur by chance, you can also create it intentionally.

Try shooting a scene outdoors on a bright, sunny day, perhaps around mid-morning or -afternoon; you can use any lens you'd like—wide angle, telephoto, or normal. When you select a subject, direct your shot so that the sun is just out of view in the upper-left or upper-right corner of the shot. Then, tilt your view so that the bottom edge of the sun's light enters your lens and your shot.

Take the image with the sun entering your photo. Are you seeing geometric patterns, or a lot of haze? Does the effect help or detract from your photo? A few different angles and perspectives will change how the sun's rays will reflect in your lens, so you might need to experiment before you get exactly the effect you want.

I took a wide-angle, fisheye photo of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from atop the famous "Corcovado" mountain. I used the sun on the edge of the photo to create some lens flare to add to the composition, giving it a bit of interest and depth. (Taken at ISO 100, f/14, 1/800 second with an EF 15mm Fisheye lens and a 1D Mark IIn.)

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