Photography: Capturing sun flares.

Desert Sky Texture by Christopher Lee Hewitt
Tall Tale Texture by Kristy @ Life-n-Reflection

After attending a wedding reception yesterday evening, held in an empty farm equipment shed (is there any other kind?,) I grabbed my camera, attached my Opteka 10x macro lens and +2 Close Up lens to my Nikon D90 18 - 55mm kit lens and headed outside to try my hand at some sun flare shots.


I admit this was almost too easy. I found a few returning wildflowers that were covered in shade by a western windbreak of old Ponderosa pines and elms.   


I laid on the ground, and pointed the camera from underneath the flower, with the sun (still peaking above the trees,) located just outside the upper left frame. Moving the camera around a bit, the flares danced and moved with each small adjustment. 


I didn't really know what I had until I uploaded the photos -- about 50 in all.  Some were junk, but some were really amazing.  The effect on the above photo reminds me of fairy dust -- the orange and purple spots on the cosmos petal were present on the original photograph. I did not add any additional flares in the editing process. Pinkie swear.


If you have not tried capturing sun flares in your photographs, I would highly recommend it. Just make sure you spray on a little Deep Woods Off before you start rolling around in the grass. You can thank me later.


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