Light flares in videography, however, are the streaks or blobs of light that can appear in your video footage and can either add to or detract from your work. Sometimes, the purposefully intended emotional depth and dramatic effect of the flares are added to it, but flares that are not intended will usually detract from the quality of your video by obscuring detail and affecting color fidelity. Understanding how to control these flares will be of benefit, not only to the visual aspect of your content but will ensure that all usage of flares will add to, not detract from, your final product.

Understanding Light Flares

Flares result from videography when strayed light rays bounce inside the lens, mostly due to direct light on the lens or reflection between the lens elements. These flares can be of any shape or intensity, depending on the light source and which lens they are going through.

The Impact of Light Flares

Light flares artistically emphasize realism, nostalgia, or emotion in your scenes. However, if that were not their intended use, they would obscure essential details, change the perceived colors of a scene, and generally make your video lose clarity. Recognizing when and how flares might impact your footage is crucial in deciding how to manage them.

Strategies for Minimizing Unwanted Light Flares

Several techniques can mitigate the risk of unwanted light flares:

- Proper Lens Selection and Care: Lenses with a good anti-reflective coating seldom cause flaring. Regular cleaning is also helpful in removing such particles to prevent light scattering.

- Lens Hooding: This is quite a simple yet effective means. The lens hoods keep the stray light from falling on the lens and reduce flare to a considerable level.

- Strategic lighting and camera positioning: Place lights and cameras in a way that light does not hit the lens and also reduces the amount of light in the eyes. You may have to reposition your light sources with angle changes or distance.

- Using Matte Boxes and Flags: With flags and matte boxes, blocking all that extraneous light, now you're in control of exactly how much light enters that lens.

The Ultimate Matte Box: SmallRig's Multifunctional Marvel

To aid in controlling light and minimizing flares, consider incorporating these SmallRig products into your setup:

• Multifunctional Modular Matte Box (Φ95mm) VND Kit: This matte box's specialty is its quick release, alongside the VND filter set, which offers precision in controlling light while maintaining the quality of the video. Due to its multifunctional design, this matte box is suitable for video shooters who don't really care about flaring or simply want to avoid it with a minimum of hustle. Read more about this product here.

• RA-D85 Parabolic Softbox: Similar to RA-D85, the softbox distributes light evenly from its source, thus softening the source with any harsh flares. This is definitely one of the indispensable tools in every photography lighting kit, as it allows perfect diffusion of light for improved video quality. Get more info here. 

• RC 60B COB LED Video Light: The RC 60B is great for its narrow beam accuracy and high CRI in production lights. As a matter of fact, these are some of the most technologically advanced lights for a studio and on location. The adjustable settings will make sure there's no video so that the real quality of your video is kept. Learn more here. 

Conclusion

The management of light flares from the video is crucial for quality in production and will give you the effect that you require on your content. If you can choose your lenses strategically and make use of lighting techniques in the right way, along with the right accessories, such as a matte box, parabolic softbox, or LED video light, you will be able to eliminate unwanted flare. 

Take from these strategies and product recommendations to try and determine what works best within your own videography. Enjoy the benefits of LED lighting and the versatility of a well-assembled photography lighting kit, elevating your video production to new heights.

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