Mark S. Johnson Photography

Although it’s generally not desirable to see lens flare in your photographs, sometimes it can be used for creative effect. In today’s Workbench, we’ll explore a method for adding a lens flare that gives us remarkable control over the intensity and position of the flare. To create a realistic effect, you’ll need a backlit photograph with a silhouetted subject that is blocking a bright light source. Thanks to Jorge Alvarez for providing this week’s photograph. As you can see, Jorge’s image already possesses a lens flare, but we’ll add one with a bit more pizzazz.