Setting a Mood in Your Sun-Flare Photographs

One of the comments I receive regularly is “Your photographs feel so natural and realistic – they don’t look at all posed!”

The other day I received this comment again, but combined with a question “do you have any tips for natural portraits?”, so I thought I would share some thoughts and tips.

To make it easy to explain, I’ve chosen a particular category of portraits – portraits with sun-flare and the feeling(s) I want to create with each sun-flare photograph.

So the question is, how do you make a photograph (portrait) feel natural without looking boring? i.e. anyone can take a “natural photograph” – just point and click. But a natural and beautiful photograph is a bit more work… although not hugely difficult once you know what to do and keep in mind.

Lets get started… and remember, if you like this post, please share it so other photographers can benefit from it.

Setting a Mood in Your Sun-Flare Photographs

If you don’t know how to capture sun-flare in your photographs, and want tips and tricks, I recommend reading my previous blog post:- How To: Photograph & Process Photos with Sun-Flare.

Watching loved ones enjoy the "end of the day".

Composition, and technical business aside, a sun-flare photograph is defined by the feeling portrayed by the photographer, through the model.

Strong Vision

It’s really important to make sure your vision of how your photograph should turn out, is clear. If you are not 100% sure how you want your photograph to look, the result may be good, but it may not – i.e. by not knowing what you want, you are taking the risk of coming back with disappointing results.

So, always start with a clear picture of what you are trying to capture. In this case, the feeling you are trying to capture.

The Feelings…

For me, sun-flare photographs are all about these feelings:-

• Calmness
• Peace
• Relaxation
• Warmth

So when I go and take these types of photographs, I keep those feelings in mind, and explain to my model what I am trying to create.

It is important that you and your model, don’t let the weather affect how your photograph comes out.

Essentially it is all about acting. If your photograph is done correctly, you will capture your viewer and this will make them feel like they were there in the photograph.

Memories with Tea

When I look at a photograph and end up loving that photograph, it is because the photograph “spoke to me” i.e. through feelings.

The emotive photograph is the most powerful. If the photograph you take is of mountains, it can be the feeling of the mountains, the size of them, the vastness of them, that creates a feeling which then makes you love that photograph.

It is still very important that you have the technical know-how so your photograph is pleasing to the eye. But when someone looks at a photograph, it is the feeling they get from that photograph that makes a photograph special.

Relaxing in another world, while the sun warms her back.

Throughout this post I am sharing some of my photographs. Each photograph was captured with a feeling in mind.

Note: see the description under each photograph for my thought behind the photograph.

Setting a Mood in Your Sun-Flare Photographs: The Processing Stage

So, have a clear picture in your head.

Make sure you know what you are trying to create and what feeling you want to give your viewer.

With that alone, you can create stunning photographs.

However, the other very important step in creating a flawless sun-flare photograph is the processing.

Processing is a very important part of photography. What you do in your processing stage can strengthen the feeling you have created with your model, to give to your viewer.

The End of a Bike Ride - After Processing

Take this photograph for example. I wanted to create a relaxed, end of the day, after a long bike ride type feeling.

To go with that feeling, I processed the photograph so it felt warm and summery.

Here is what it looked like before any processing.

Before Processing

See how cold it looks? If it wasn’t for the haze and glow around her (note her head in particular), this could easily have been taken in the morning.

So as you can see, I processed in a way that really created a hot summer feeling.

When I looked at the original, I definitely didn’t feel it had that “relaxed feeling” I was going for.

The Black and White Processing

Ironically, one of my favourite sun-flare photographs is actually black and white.

I originally set out to create a warm, late afternoon toned photograph, but when it came to processing I accidentally clicked black and white and loved the result.

Although there is a lack of colour, the sun-flare created an amazing soft and dreamy feeling.

Kissed by the Sun

As you can see, this photograph is really soft, dreamy and almost secretive due to the processing and sun-flare.

I try to give my actual photographing as much attention as my processing. I may be able to take a beautiful portrait, but that is only 50% of photography.

For me, photography is 50% “photographing” and 50% processing.

Before Processing

So this is what the photograph looked like before processing.

I didn’t find much wrong with the “before” but when I finished processing it in black and white, I felt I had created a mood, and the black and white processing completed the photograph.

I did process it originally in colour, but as I said, I clicked black and white by accident, and was hooked!

However here is the colour version:-

After Processing - The Colour Version

With the colour I really wanted to bring out the sun colours. i.e. the warmer tones of my skin, a warmer background etc.

When I was processing this I was really trying to emphasise the warmth of the late-afternoon.

This is what I do in 99% of my sun-flare photographs as it is usually like that, but it doesn’t always come out of the camera as strong as I saw it.

The Strength of Sun-Flare

On top of feelings and processing, one thing I haven’t mentioned so far is the position of my camera when taking sun-flare photographs.

With the above photographs, I positioned the camera in a particular way so the sun-flare wasn’t overpowering.

I still wanted the sun-flare feeling and softness but I was careful not to let the sun-flare take over as it can if you point your camera directly into the sun, or just off.

With the photographs above I had the sun creeping in from a corner, about 1/4 of the sun was in the photograph, so the sun-flare is noticeable but not overpowering.

However, I have a lot of photographs where I have allowed the sun-flare to be a lot more powerful by having the sun pouring in from one corner a lot more than in the above photographs.

Here I positioned my camera so the sun was just out of  ”sight”.

Firey

As you can see the sun-flare is much stronger. The sun is coming into the photograph from the left and overpowering this photograph hugely. Which is what I wanted and what I set out to do.

What do you want?

It all depends what you have in mind. Do you want a lot of sun-flare? A little? Medium?

It doesn’t actually matter what you do, so long as you have a clear idea.

It’s amazing how many different types of photographs and feelings you can create simply by positioning your camera differently each time and having a feeling in mind.

Even the same feeling (i.e. relaxation) can come out different every time when you change small things like the position of the camera.

For example…

The photograph above and the photograph below were taken about 5 minutes apart, but due to the position of my camera and the models, I have created completely different results.

Shyness

See how this one is so much softer? The processing is almost identical, but the sun-flare is a lot stronger in the other photograph compared to this one. This one is more delicate and soft.

Inspiration and Feeling in Stories

Something I have found incredibly helpful is to create a story.

Imagine the photographs you take are being combined with a story, or even a few one-liners.

This can often give you more feeling which then results in your photographs becoming stronger and more powerful, and that comes across to the viewer as well.

One very clear example of this is a quote I love to use:

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

I have often gone out with that quote in mind, and created a photograph revolving around it, which has given my photograph a lot more power and meaning.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Now it’s your turn… Create a Feeling

So I hope this post has helped you understand some of my thoughts behind the photographs and how I create natural feeling photographs.

The one thought I have in the back of my mind is “does ___ look like this?”, i.e. if you are photographing a friend, or family member then you will very likely know what they look like when they relaxed. Your challenge is to create their natural “relaxed” feeling while having them model so the photograph looks good.

It is all fine and well saying “just relaxed”, but often a just relaxed position/pose can be unattractive! Hence the challenge of feeling and modelling.

If you need help with modelling and creating feelings in your photographs, I recommend reading our Modelling Tips for Models and Photographers eBook.

It is a fantastic eBook with detailed tips and information for excellent modelling positions, how to create feelings “with a snap of a finger” and also what not do to.

Photography Tips eBook

The last thing I have to say is, if you don’t already use Manual on your DSLR… Start doing so today.

Once you start using manual on your DSLR you will see a huge improvement in your photography. You gain 100% control over your photography and the results will be fantastic – once you know how to USE the manual mode.

If you want to learn from me, and how I set-up my DSLR, along with many photography tips, I recommend reading my Photography Tips eBook. If you are serious about photography it is definitely going to help you and will give you a huge amount of value.

My Processing in these Photographs

Lastly, the processing.

If you use Lightroom, I recommend our Lightroom Presets for fantastic photographic processing results.

I use our Lightroom Presets on a daily basis and they are flawless – if they were not, I would not use them! They came about after many requests for our Lightroom Presets, so if you feel your processing could do with some help, these Lightroom Presets will be your new best-friends!

For the photographs featured in this post I used the following Lightroom Presets:-

• Black and White Lightroom Presets Pack
• Soft Afternoon Glow Lightroom Preset – Deluxe Pack

I use Soft Afternoon Glow Lightroom Preset – Deluxe Pack daily for “normal” lighting photographs and sun-flare photographs.

It is exceptionally good for the spring, summer and early autumn photographs and is literally my #1 Lightroom Preset up until snow arrives!

Conclusion

So there we have it – a rather lengthly post, but I hope this helps you with your photography.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me, either with questions, or anything else you want to ask about or share!

And if you would like me to write a particular post on something, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

Until next time… Happy Snapping and Processing!

- Olivia Bell

Ps. If you like this post, please share it (using the buttons below) so other photographers can benefit from it too.