A little bit about sun flare and photography.
Sun flare (or "lens flare" is:
"Flare is unwanted [or wanted] light reflecting within a lens or camera that reduces contrast and creates bright streaks or patterns on the image."
"A lens flare is often deliberately used to invoke a sense of drama. A lens flare is also useful when added to an artificial or modified image composition because it adds a sense of realism, implying that the image is an un-edited original photograph of a "real life" scene."
I generally love sun flare. The first time I ever noticed it was when Kim (my mother-in-law) took these pregnancy pictures last year for me. She hated the spots (flare)...but I loved them. I felt like they added to the picture. You can tell it is very sunny...and the picture looks more real and less edited.
To get sun flare, place your subject in front of the sun (or just to the side of the sun depending on how much flare you want). This works best in the late afternoon or early morning. It's also best to shoot in manual so you don't over or under expose your subject. You can still get sun flare using the automatic setting. The following picture was taken by my brother with a little automatic camera (I think from Costco?). It has great sun flare! However, the subject (another brother jumping) is not contrasted very well and almost fades into the background.
Depending on what time of the day it is, you might have to get pretty low to the ground in order to catch some sun flare. My camera was touching the ground, pointing up when I took this photo.
An example of sun flare versus no sun flare:
This photo has no sun flare
I tilted my camera just slightly upwards and ooh la la....lots of sun flare! I like the way this one looks better.
Just a touch of flare
More flare
So get your camera and go try some sun flare!
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