How can I remove a green lens flare streak from a photo?

Question

I took a photo on my phone with the sun just outside the frame near my subject. Afterward I noticed a faint green diagonal streak across the image, likely lens flare. What’s a simple way to reduce or remove this green cast in editing?

user27243 · Accepted Answer

Video tutorial is up here: 60 Seconds: How to remove green flare (please consider subscribing)

Convert the image to Lab color mode
Create a Curves Adjustment
In the B Channel put two points in there - one on the green and one off it. You can use the top left tool that looks like an up/down arrow with a finger on it if it helps you. They are very close together so you might need to put the whichever you do second a little further away for it to work and then you can move it in once you have it on the Curve. Then just level those two points. Congrats, now the amount of green is even and the streak is gone. No masking or complex things needed.

If you feel the image is a bit too red as a result just do another Curve and adjust the A channel without adding new points to it, I also added a tiny bit of yellow in the B channel. Notice how very subtle my adjustment is in the Curve:

How can I remove a green lens flare streak from a photo?

2 Answers

Your Answer

Related Questions