How is the weather looking in your part of the world these days? It’s officially Spring & that weather should be starting to warm up soon which could only mean one thing….time to get outside and take some photos! 🙂 Some of my favorite photos tend to be the ones in which I’ve been able to catch a little flare from that warm spring/summer sun. I love the look and the hazey feel of these photos and I wanted to share with you a few tips on how to recreate this look yourself.
-for these sun flare shots you’re going to have to be brave and try shooting with
your subjects back to the sun
-it works best if the sun is lower in the sky so either later evening or early morning light will work best
-it helps a lot if the sun is partially hidden behind something ie. some trees, a building, etc.
-the direction at which the light hits your lens is what is going to create this flare from the sun, so play around with different angles. You might have to get down and dirty on the ground folks.
-getting your camera to focus where you want it can sometimes be tricky with all that bright sunlight in the shot…don’t give up. Switch your focus points around (check your cameras manual on how to do this) and adjust your angle until you’ve got that focus right where you need it
**warning: never look directly at the sun through your camera lens
Rebecca Cooper is a 42-year-old wife and mother of four from Alberta, Canada. As a photographer, crafter, author, and blogger, she finds joy and fulfillment in celebrating everyday moments. She loves to read and eat chocolate, and is a firm believer in afternoon naps. Rebecca shares her family’s adventures, photo tips, simple craft projects + more right here at Simple as That.
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Great article, I adore your shots with the flares in them. Half the fun shotting is experimenting I cant wait to try this.
I love that last photo…so cute!!! Thanks for the photography tips. I will definitely try them out sometime.
these photos are magical.
you can also fake it. the pioneer woman has a free photoshop action that brings sunshine to the picture. not quite the same but can bring cheer to a picture when there’s no sunlight.
One of my favorite photos I have shot recently has some great flare. I need to get shots like that more often.
Beautiful shots!
amazing light!
Love the tips. I so want to try this. And gorgeous photos. I could linger here at your blog all day.
so happy for this! I tried it a few weeks ago and it was a disaster! I am going to keep trying though
This is a great and practical tutorial! Love love love your shots!
Wow you make this sound so easy! do you need a special lense for this? I can’t wait to try it out tonight! I better plan early though because it’s getting dark sooner! YAY fall!
@Brittny
no special lens required Brittny! Have fun with it. 🙂 Would love to see your results, shoot me a link some time. Rebecca
So beautiful! You have loads of great ideas on this site. It’s very inspirational. You seem like a wonderful person.
@Diatomaceous Earth
thank you so much for your sweet comment. 🙂
If the sun were to be behind the subject, then how do we avoid the subject from getting dark?