Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. I'm going to show you a quick tip on how to
accurately position a lens flare, change its color an even remove portions of it if you want to.
Open a photo you'd like to add a lens flare to.
I downloaded this one from Shutterstock.com.
Before we begin, you should know that the lens flare filter won't work
on an empty layer, so before you apply the filter, make sure there's something in your layer.
For this example, I'd like the lens flare positioned exactly over the sun.
Go to Filter, Render and Lens Flare.
Because the preview window has always been small,
it's difficult to position the lens flare accurately on your preview image.
Position it as best you can in the meantime. Feel free to adjust its brightness to whatever looks
good to you. For this image, I'll leave it at 100%. Choose the Lens Type and click OK.
Now that we have the general position of the lens flare, press Ctrl + z on Windows or
Cmd + z on a Mac to undo the last step.
Click the New Layer icon to make a new layer. We'll
fill this empty layer with black. To do this, press Shift + F5 key at the top of your keyboard
to open the Fill window. Open Contents and choose Black.
Press Ctrl or Cmd + F to repeat the last filter you used.
Doing this, duplicates the lens flare's type, position and intensity.
To see your image under it, change its blend mode to "Screen".
To accurately position the flare, open your Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
Temporarily reduce its opacity to 0.
All transformations are performed around a fixed point called the "Reference Point".
By default, this point is at the center of the item you're transforming. You can drag
the reference point to a different location. Drag it directly over the spot
you'd like the center of your lens flare to be. Then, increase the opacity back to 100%.
We can always adjust the opacity later. Go inside the Transform and drag it, so the lens
flare is directly over the spot. To ensure that the entire lens flare covers your background
image, go to a corner and when you see a diagonal, double arrow, press and hold Alt or Option
+ Shift as you drag it out. Make sure the top, bottom and sides of the Transform's bounding
box are outside the edges of your background image. To accept it, press Enter or Return.
For this image, I’ll reduce the lens flare’s opacity to 80%.
To change its color,
click your Adjustment layer icon
and click "Hue / Saturation".
Click the Clipping Mask icon, which clips or restricts the adjustment layer
to effect just the lens flare and not the background image.
Drag the Hue slider to a color you like.
You can also hide areas of the flare if want.
To do this, click Lens flare layer to make it active and click the
Layer Mask icon. This makes a layer mask next to the lens flare.
Open your Brush Tool and the Brush Picker.
We'll take care of the Size in a moment. Make its Hardness: 0% and the
Opacity and Flow: 100%. Then, press Enter or Return.
To make your brush smaller or larger, press the left or right bracket on your keyboard.
Then, brush over the areas of the lens flare that you want to hide.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!