light flares?

[rebecca the curious]

how do they form? particularly the hexagonal spots, like here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marja_/2049084633/

 

[ann]

without going into serious detail, flares usually occur with light bouncing at an angle to the glass.

use a lens hood and this should element them. Be sure the hood is the right size for the specific lens.

 

[rebecca the curious]

thanks. actually, i was asking because i like them. dont' want to eliminate them.

is it just a matter of practising to get the right angle at which they occur?

 

[Battou]

They are a result of light bouncing off glass surfaces inside the lens, Lenses with large numbers of elements such as zooms tend to exhibit greater lens flare, as they contain multiple surfaces at which internal bouncing can occur.

 

[jstuedle]

Wide angle lenses also tend to exhibit flare simply due to the wide angle of acceptance to incoming light. Typically a bright light source like the sun or high intensity street light is needed to create them. Another photographers flash can also do it, but near impossible to control for creative purposes.

 

[ann]

well, if you want them to occur, you can try using some gel filters instead of glass without a lens hood, and with the sun at a right angle to the lens.


you would need to get a special holder for the filters that fits the specific lens your using.

But as the above writer suggest it is very diffult to control in the creative sense.

 

[Sideburns]

Crappy UV filters might help...ahaha

You'll be able to see them usually when you are gonna get em. Just point your lens towards the sun, and move it around until you see some flare. tada!

 

[Garbz]

Aperture has a big effect on the flare size too. Remember to use the DOF preview when planning to take a shot with flare in it.

 

[Battou]

Crappy UV filters might help...ahaha

You'll be able to see them usually when you are gonna get em. Just point your lens towards the sun, and move it around until you see some flare. tada!

Yes that is a good point, they are generally visible during comp. Knowing that should help creativly use them.

 

[bango707]

also the type of lens elements will have an effect on the shape and size of the flare. There are lenses that will produce triangular, circular, square, hexagonal and other shaped flares.

 

[rebecca the curious]

interesting. thanks folks.

 

[harshcg]

from my experience if you cut the sun half on your lens it can give you this flare effect. you gotta take a few shots till you get it right.
i got this at once...

 

[Mike_E]

Nice, the number of sides is determined by the number of blades in your lens. With out any the flairs would be round.

 

[jotan82]

^^^ i agree. it matters on the number of blades in your camera

 

[nicfargo]

The more blades in the camera the rounder the flare light. 5 blades give a pentagon, 6 gives a more rounded but still noticeable hexagon, 8 looks pretty much like a circle in most cases. Mike_E do they make lenses without blades? You need the blades for the aperture, so how can you have a lens with no blades?