Photographing clouds against the sun can create stunning images, but it can also pose some challenges. Lens flare and glare are two common issues that can ruin your shots or add unwanted effects. In this article, you will learn how to deal with lens flare and glare when photographing clouds against the sun, and how to use them creatively if you want to.
Lens flare and glare are optical phenomena that occur when bright light sources enter your lens and reflect or scatter inside it. Lens flare is the appearance of colorful or white circles, streaks, or shapes in your image, usually around the light source or opposite to it. Glare is the loss of contrast, saturation, or detail in your image, caused by the light washing out the colors or creating haze. Both lens flare and glare can affect the quality and mood of your image, depending on how you control them.
One thing I found very useful is to understand that lens flare is a reflection of the suns rays within the barrel of the lens, but often a more diffused glaring and distorting effect is actually a result of dust on the lens, especially the rear element, which is typically tiny compared to the front element. Make sure the rear element of your lens is perfectly clean, then you’re more likely to see a very distinct flare that you can use creatively as part of your composition. Then, experiment with aperture and see how it affects the shape and direction of the flare effect.
The most effective way to avoid lens flare and glare is to block the sun from entering your lens directly. You can use a lens hood, your hand, or another object to shade your lens from the sun. Alternatively, you can change your angle, position, or composition to avoid pointing your lens directly at the sun. You can also use a polarizing filter, which can reduce the reflections and glare from the sun and enhance the contrast and colors of the clouds. However, a polarizing filter can also affect the exposure and white balance of your image, so you need to adjust them accordingly.
To avoid lens flare always, you should anyway to protect your lens, have the lens hood on always. Try filters like ND filters, polarizing filters etc. But the best option might be to change angles and shoot from a shaded area.
If you cannot avoid lens flare and glare in-camera, you can try to correct them in post-processing. You can use software tools like Photoshop, Lightroom, or Snapseed to edit your image and remove or reduce the unwanted effects. For example, you can use the clone stamp, healing brush, or patch tool to remove lens flare spots or streaks. You can also use the curves, levels, or contrast adjustments to restore the contrast and saturation of your image. However, post-processing can only do so much, and it can also introduce artifacts or noise in your image, so it is better to prevent lens flare and glare in the first place.
In editing you could use a healing brush tool or content aware to remove unwanted glare. In most cases it's best to eliminate lens flare at capture.
Lens flare and glare are not always bad. Sometimes, they can add drama, interest, or atmosphere to your image, especially when photographing clouds against the sun. You can use lens flare and glare creatively if you want to create a certain mood or effect in your image. For example, you can use lens flare to create a sunburst, a starburst, or a halo effect around the sun or the clouds. You can also use glare to create a soft, dreamy, or hazy look in your image. To use lens flare and glare creatively, you need to experiment with different lenses, apertures, angles, and compositions, and see how they affect the light and the image.
When shooting either a landscape or client within the landscape or for me mostly beachscapes you could allow the flare to come in from on of the edges to give the image a sense of environment and what it was like.
Photographing clouds against the sun requires you to adjust your settings according to the lighting conditions and the effect you want to achieve. To help you capture the perfect shot, use a small aperture (high f-number) to create a sharp and detailed image and create a sunburst or starburst effect. A fast shutter speed (low number) will freeze the motion of the clouds and prevent overexposure. A low ISO (100 or 200) can also reduce noise and grain in your image. For accurate exposure, switch to manual or spot metering mode and meter for the clouds, not the sun. Lastly, use manual or auto white balance to adjust the color temperature of your image according to your preference.
This is a touch one, but I would tend to use the lowest ISO setting you can. Shoot when the angle of the sun is somewhat under the clouds as opposed to bearing down on them - I always think clouds look more interesting very early in the morning, almost pre-dawn. Then use f8 to around f16 and and shutter speed of at least 1/200th sec. You could add an ND filter too.
Photographing clouds against the sun requires thought about composition and how to frame the image. To help, consider following the rule of thirds, using leading lines to guide the viewer's eye to the sun or clouds, using negative space to create contrast and drama, and adding foreground interest to add depth and dimension. Placing the sun or horizon on one of the grid lines or intersections of your image can create balance and harmony. Using natural or artificial elements, such as roads, fences, trees, or buildings, can create leading lines and depth. Negative space can also create a sense of scale and isolation. Objects, people, animals, or plants can be used as foreground interest to create context and story.
Placing a line of clouds that are above the horizon at the very bottom of the frame and creating a huge amount of negative space above, for me makes a really compelling image. Why? you might ask, for me it really demonstrates how small we are compared to nature, our world and our Solar System.
Avoid looking directly at the sun when shooting those dramatic land or seascapes, especially through the lens. We all know looking directly at the sun can damage your eyes—looking at it magnified through a lens can be worse, especially when using an SLR, where you are looking through a magnified prism. The longer the lens (telephoto), the worse it gets. I’ve lately began using LiveView on my SLR to compose those sunset shots without having to look directly at the sun through the viewfinder. EVF (electronic viewfinder) cameras or the Live View Function on SLR cameras provide a layer of protection between your eyes and the very harmful direct rays of the sun.