Dreamy backlit portraits with lens flare
I remember when I first started out in my photography journey, I fell madly in love with the soft warm backlit photos with a lens flare.
I saw them everywhere but I had no clue how to create them with my camera.
I struggled to replicate the same warmth haze in my own shots. And I would never get the flare right.
I later discovered with a lot of trial, error, and research - that it mostly comes down to the time of day.
You see, different times of the day create different types of light. These different lights then create different color tones and contrast in our photos.
These kinds of warm-toned shots with very little contrast need to be taken at the so-called Golden hour. The golden hour is either very early in the morning, just after the sun has risen or late evening, right before the sunsets.
This is a lot of photographers' favorite time to shoot.
The soft light is easy to work with since it doesn’t give you any harsh contrasts making it easy to create beautiful photos.
This is also the ideal time to create backlit portraits with beautiful lens flare.
Just follow the simple steps below:
Place your subject to face you with the sun behind her/him.
Point your camera in the direction of the sun
Shoot!
And that’s all you need to create amazing photos.
Pointing your lens into the backlight often results in warm and "glowy" photos because the light is literally wrapping itself around the subject.
And to get the perfect flare, angle your camera little by little as you’re pointing it at the sun and see which angle creates your perfect flare.
Since the light will be lower and less harsh than midday, you may need:
A higher ISO
Slower shutter speed
Wider aperture
To be able to capture photos with a perfectly balanced exposure.
However, just like anything in photography on the topic of what settings to use - it depends. It’s all about what kind of feeling and atmosphere you are trying to create and achieve in your photo.
Let me know in the comment if these rules helped you capture your dreamy portrait with a lens flare.
The more you experiment, the more your own style will start to blossom.
Much love
Benaz (Nomad Habits)