Flare, Baby Flare
Monday January 29, 2007 by David Beckstead
Back in my film days, flare was something to avoid. Flare was so hard to predict and control without digital’s instant LCD feedback.
In 2000, my pro digital camera showed me that bouncing direct light through the multiple glass elements in my 16–35mm f/2.8 lens could produce something beautiful and very cool. The rendition of the light as haze, streaks, rings, color, glare and all of the almost unpredictable elements of flare, made it exciting to try to tame.
I never know exactly how the light will react with my lens at any particular time of day or angle of the sun. I know it is possible to shift my positioning and change the plane of the camera body to draw the flare to the subject, but how the flare will line up and how big the circles (halation) will be is often a mystery. That’s what makes it fun!
The creative use of flare is nothing new. Flare is used in both film and television cinematography. I have seen it used in the movie Sideways, and the technique is everywhere in Lord of the Rings. The more I look for it, the more I see it—it’s no mistake. Flare is used as an effect. Often flare is used in films to draw the viewer’s eye to a subject or to follow a subject. For some reason, however, it seems that flare has been taboo in wedding photography. As you can see here though, flare can look great and add drama and beauty to your images.
I don’t mean accidental flare. Rather, I am talking about planning the use of flare and using it artistically; in other words, creatively incorporating flare as a unique compositional element with exciting results that will please you and your clients.
I try to shoot three or four flare shots per wedding. These shots are one avenue of creative enjoyment. If the bride loves the shots, that’s all the better. If not, it is only a few shots that I have to keep out of the album. However, I find many of my flare shots have made the bride’s cut to be in the album, and that’s fun for me to see.
Flare can be captured with any lens, though I find zooms work better than fixed focal length lenses. I have been experimenting with a 70–200mm f/2.8 lens, which gives a totally different look than my main flare lens, a Canon 16–35mm f/2.8. I find that I want a lens shade on my wide-angle zoom. I do not want the glare that takes away the deep rich color I am after—I can get flare without glare. Sometimes the lens shade doesn’t help because I am pointing my lens directly into the sun. Most of the time the trick is to get only a small section of sunrays striking the lens from the side.
Flare almost always involves a backlit subject. I find that overexposing increases flare and can help pull more shadow and midtone detail from my subject. This technique does not require a flash. A byproduct of overexposing during these backlit situations is an ethereal wraparound light that often enhances the flare and the subject. These images often have a warm, pleasant look.
Another creative technique is using flare to fill in negative space around the subject. This look can add drama to what might be an otherwise standard image. Sometimes I frame more negative space in the composition (by including more sky for example), and then fill this space in with flare. This technique can add one more element to the story of that image.
Flare can also be used to draw the eye to the most important parts of the composition. Sometimes you can circle the subject in bands of colorful light, other times you may use a bride’s dress as a canvas for light painting— the possibilities are limitless.
These are experimental images, so don’t be too hard on yourself if it takes awhile to get one worth keeping. Don’t show poor looking flare shots on your websites—it needs to look like it was planned or a cool accident.
So, take that wonderful safe shot with the bride and groom, and then take less than a minute to try five or 10 shots to get one nice flare image. Move the lens just a little to change the look of the flare and press the shutter again. Adjust your exposure a little more or even dramatically. The look of the flare will change and sometimes the drama will improve amazingly.
Have fun and go play!
