What photography effects create blown-out, faded edges and shifted colors like these paintings?
Asked 6/29/2023
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These paintings seem to imitate a photographic look where highlights are blown out, edges fade or glow, and colors shift in unusual ways. In some examples the background also looks selectively softened or blurred. What photographic or post-processing effects would create this look? Is it mainly lens flare or light leaks from older film cameras, or is it more likely done in editing?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
2y ago
2 Answers
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This is only an opinion. And as I am not a native English speaker I could be wrong.
If you want an "effect" it could be flares, glows, or blurs.
- A flare is multiple bounces or reflections of the light on the internal glass of the lens, e.g.:
A glow is the dispersion of the light due, to either atmospheric elements like fog or a feature on the lens, like a filter or simply smudges.
One specific case is when it is directional and can be called a star or streak:
A blur could be something out of focus or something moving fast across the frame.
If you want a "defect", probably a light leak:
Credits: Ross - Adrian Lux on Flickr
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
2y ago
0
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It’s probably a mix of effects rather than one single photographic phenomenon.
From the examples described, the look can come from:
- lens flare: bright light reflecting inside the lens, causing washed-out areas, streaks, or loss of contrast
- glow / diffusion / halation: soft bright areas and faded edges, sometimes from filters, haze, or added in editing
- light leaks: an actual film-camera defect that adds blown-out, tinted areas near the frame edges
- posterization: reduces smooth tonal transitions so colors look flatter or more abruptly separated, which can feel more “painted”
- selective blur: parts of the image are masked and blurred to keep one subject sharper than the surroundings
So yes: some of this can happen in-camera, especially flare or real film light leaks, but the overall look in artwork is often imitating a combination of photographic defects and post-processing effects. In modern workflow, editing tools are the easiest way to reproduce it consistently.
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