How to Use Photoshop to Remove Lens Flare From an Image

A lot of us like a bit of lens flare in our photos as a stylistic choice, but once it reaches J.J. Abrams levels, it can be a bit distracting. This helpful tutorial will show you how to remove it from a photo, particularly when it lands on your subject's face.

Coming to you from Julia Trottti, this great video shows you how to remove distracting lens flare from a subject's face. Personally, I think the broader, less defined flares can be a nice addition in the right context, but the sharp, focused flares such as in the example here are almost universally distracting. One thing to note is how Trotti keeps the opacity of the Clone Stamp rather low, normally somewhere around 20 percent. This allows her to slowly build up the effect and keep a close eye on if the adjustment is realistic and to also sample from multiple areas to help blend it convincingly. I also recommend using a brush with a low hardness; this will give you some automatic blending as you brush things in and make the overall process a bit easier and more forgiving. Give the video above a watch for the full method. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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Once again, Alex, excellent guidance. Thanks.