Lens flare can be a creative effect, but sometimes it appears where you don’t want it, affecting the clarity and contrast of your image. Whether caused by the sun or artificial light sources, lens flare can be distracting. The good news? It’s easy to remove in Photoshop.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk through how to eliminate unwanted lens flare using simple tools in Photoshop while also sharing tips to prevent it during shooting.

How to Prevent Lens Flare While Shooting

While Photoshop can help fix lens flare, getting it right in-camera is always the best option. Here are a few simple tricks to minimize flare when shooting:

1. Use a Lens Hood

A lens hood is designed to block stray light from entering the lens at extreme angles, helping to reduce unwanted flare.

2. Change Your Angle

Sometimes, a small shift in camera position can significantly reduce lens flare. Try adjusting your shooting angle slightly to block the direct light source.

3. Use an Object to Block the Sun

If you don’t have a lens hood, you can use your hand, a tree, or another object to partially block the light entering the lens. If using your hand, be careful not to include it in the frame unless you plan to remove it later.

4. Shoot Multiple Exposures

Take one shot with the lens flare and another with your hand blocking the light. You can later blend the two images in Photoshop for a clean result.

How to Remove Lens Flare in Photoshop

If you’ve already captured an image with unwanted flare, Photoshop provides several ways to remove it. Below are the most effective methods.

Method 1: Using the Clone Stamp Tool

The Clone Stamp Tool is great for replacing flare-affected areas with nearby clean textures.

  1. Open the image in Photoshop and create a duplicate layer (Ctrl+J / Cmd+J) to work non-destructively.
  2. Select the Clone Stamp Tool by pressing S on your keyboard or finding it in the toolbar.
  3. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) and click on a clean part of the image near the lens flare to sample the area.
  4. Carefully brush over the flare, using soft strokes to blend naturally. Adjust the brush opacity if needed.

Method 2: Using the Healing Brush Tool

The Healing Brush Tool works similarly to the Clone Stamp but blends the sampled area more seamlessly.

  1. Select the Healing Brush Tool by pressing J on your keyboard.
  2. In the top menu, set the brush to “Sampled” mode.
  3. Hold Alt/Option and click to sample from a nearby clean area.
  4. Paint over the lens flare and let Photoshop blend it naturally.

Method 3: Using Frequency Separation for Complex Flares

If the lens flare affects skin or textured areas, Frequency Separation is a more advanced method. It allows you to separate texture from color and correct the flare without affecting fine details.

  1. Duplicate the image twice and name the layers High Frequency and Low Frequency.
  2. Apply Gaussian Blur to the Low Frequency Layer to blur out details while keeping colors.
  3. Use the Clone Stamp on the Low Frequency Layer to remove the flare without affecting texture.
  4. Set the High Frequency Layer to “Linear Light” to bring back the original texture.

This technique is especially useful for portraits where lens flare affects skin tones.

Blending Multiple Exposures to Remove Lens Flare

If you followed the earlier tip of capturing two images—one with flare and one where you blocked the light—you can easily blend them in Photoshop.

  1. Open both images in Photoshop and stack them as layers, with the flare-free image on top.
  2. Add a Layer Mask to the top image by selecting the layer and clicking the Layer Mask icon.
  3. Brush over the lens flare areas with a soft black brush to reveal the flare-free section from the image below.
  4. Once satisfied, go to Layer > Flatten Image and save your file.

Final Thoughts

While lens flare can add a creative touch, sometimes it’s more of a distraction. By combining good shooting techniques with Photoshop’s powerful tools, you can easily remove unwanted flare and bring out the best in your images.

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