Lens Flare at Sunrise

by | May 14, 2013 | Impressive Places | 3 comments

Imagine having this view out your living window! It was just so handy to throw on a jacket and step outside this morning at this quaint, little house that my Uncle is letting us stay at for the week!

Sunrise over Grandfather Mountain

7113_Linville-North Carolina-USA_Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 135 mm, 1-125 sec at f - 11, ISO 400

I thought about quite a few things while taking this picture:

  • Even this far south, spring really hasn’t arrived at the higher altitudes. Instead of going for the rich green colors like I was expecting, I had to focus on utilizing the warm colors of the still barren trees.
  • Including the sun in the image caused a lot of lens flare, so in the above image I composed the shot to crop out the sun just enough to keep that deep contrast over the image.
  • I had to zoom way in for that shot and I discovered that lens flare looks especially bad when zoomed in. At wide angles, however, it doesn’t have to look bad if you keep a few lens flare rules in mind.

7109_Linville-North Carolina-USA_Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 28 mm, 1-125 sec at f - 11, ISO 400

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3 Comments

  1. Bethany

    I LOVE the lens flare over the house! It really adds a unique factor to the picture.

    Reply
  2. Ezra Morley

    Also, what are the “few lens flare rules”? Can you tell us what they are, so we can all know next time?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • James Staddon

      That would make great material for a post one day, for sure! It’s one thing to talk it through, but quite another to write it all out with examples and stuff. That’s the perfect kind of question for the CAPTURE workshop, or for next time we see each other!

      Reply

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