Term of the Moment
animated GIF
Definition: lens flare
Unwanted, excessive light in a photograph due to internal reflections and scattering of light caused by a camera lens with non-uniform optical characteristics. Zoom lenses, which contain several elements, tend to introduce more lens flare due to the many surfaces within the lens. See purple fringing and chromatic aberration.
Sometimes We Create Our Own Lens Flare
Lens flare is a common image editing effect that is used to add atmosphere or drama to an image. This Photoshop screenshot shows the lens flare filter being applied to the image on the left. The type of camera lens, amount of brightness and position of the light can be adjusted.