Used wisely, lens flare can add a sense of drama to an image. In this special step-by-step image-editing project, Mark Galer explains how to add a credible lens-flare effect in Photoshop.
Software:
Photoshop CS5
Rating: Intermediate
Lens flare is something you often see when a lens is pointed directly at the sun or a very bright light. As the light reflects and refracts through the lens it reduces contrast, modifies colour and often produces repeating geometric patterns in the image, usually in the shape of the aperture. Mostly photographers go to some effort to avoid lens flare. Lens hoods, for example, are designed to shield the front element from direct light and prevent lens flare. Same goes for barn doors on studio lights.
That said, lens flare isn’t always unwelcome and is often used by cinematographers and photographers for creative effect. Even so, it’s not the easiest thing to control in camera. Some lenses are more prone to lens flare than others and the effect can change dramatically as the camera’s alignment with the light source alters. Further, if you apply the effect in camera, you’re stuck with it. Of course, if you add the effect in post-production you can control exactly how and where the effect appears. And if you decide you don’t like it, you can always go back to the original image.
There are a couple of options if you want to simulate a lens flare effect in Photoshop. The easiest and most widely used is Photoshop’s Lens Flare filter, which is found in the Filter menu (Filter > Render > Lens Flare). This is not a bad option, but the results can be a little predictable and unconvincing. In this tutorial we’ll explore some techniques used by pro photographers to create believable lens-flare effects.
01
PLACE
You will require two images to complete this project. You can download the images by clicking on the following links: Portrait image and Lens flare image. With the images downloaded, open the image, ‘man_start.jpg’ in Photoshop. In the main menu choose ‘File > Place’. Find the image ‘lens_flare_start_01.jpg’ and choose ‘Place’.
02
FLIP HORIZONTAL
The two images would work better together if the flare was coming from the left side of the image. Go to the main menu and choose ‘Edit >Transform > Flip Horizontal’.
03
MOVE
In the ‘Layers’ panel reduce the ‘Opacity’ of the top layer to between 75 and 85% (enough to see the window in the background). Now click on the flare image and drag it over to the left so it looks like the sun is shining through the window.
04
TRANSFORM
In this step I want to transform the flare image so it covers the whole image. Drag the corner handles of the bounding box outwards to enlarge the lens flare layer. You may need to zoom out and reposition the layer so the sun is still aligned with the window. When you’re happy with the transformation press the ‘Enter’ key (‘Return,’ Mac) to apply the change.
05
SCREEN BLEND MODE
Go to the Layers panel and return the Opacity of the top layer to 100%. Change the blend mode of the layer from ‘Normal’ to ‘Screen’. You could finish the project here, but I have a few more changes in mind.
06
AUTO LEVELS
In the Layers panel click the ‘Create a new fill or adjustment layer’ (at the bottom of the panel) and choose ‘Levels’ from the drop-down menu. In the Levels dialogue box click the ‘Auto’ button. This simple step restores a black point to the image (creating richer shadow tones), while retaining the drama of the flare.
07
MAKE A MASK
Although lighter tones with reduced contrast are signature characteristics of lens flare, we can cheat a little in this case and restore some contrast to the sitter. In the Layers panel, click the ‘lens_flare_01’ layer to make it active. Now, click the ‘Add layer mask’ icon at the base of the panel. We’ll use the mask to hide some of the effects of the lens flare layer.
08
REDUCE THE FLARE
In the ‘Tools Panel’ select the ‘Brush Tool’ and make black the ‘Foreground Colour’. In the ‘Tool Options’ panel select a large, soft-edged brush and reduce the brush ‘Opacity’ to 30%. Paint over the man to return some tone to this area of the image. How much you mask here is really up to you. Note that the more times you paint over an area, the fainter the flare will become. If you go to far, change the foreground colour to white and paint over the affected area.
09
DO TRY THIS AT HOME
It’s possible to mix and match more than one flare effect to create all sorts of different results. In the adjacent image I have used several flare effects to create a faded 1970s look. We’ve included the flare effects so you can try some of these techniques with your own images. Good luck. Note: This flare effect is available as an action at www.markgaler.com. The action comes with a resource pack that includes 40 different flare images.
