How to fix light streaks in photos and save a ruined shot fast?

This guide gives five quick, practical tips you can use right away. You’ll learn on-camera fixes, lens-shading tricks, and step-by-step Dehaze and cloning edits for Lightroom and Photoshop.

We show simple moves: change your camera angle, shade the lens, use or remove hoods and filters, protect highlights, and finish in post. Each tip has a one-minute action and a recommended order to try.

We also include sample camera settings, RAW-and-bracket must-dos, and before/after examples. Read on for clear steps you can try now to remove or control streaks.

How to Remove Light Glare From Photo (5 Best Tips)

Light streaks, glare, and lens flare happen when a bright source hits your lens at a tricky angle. The light bounces inside the lens, reflects off filters, or blooms on the sensor and spreads. Film bodies can also leak light, and long exposures can create intentional light trails.

If you are asking how to fix light streaks in photos fast, start with these five moves. They are quick, simple, and work on most scenes.

Tip 1: Change the angle or reframe so the bright source is moved or hidden. Pivot the camera 10–30 degrees or take one sidestep and watch the streak slide or vanish in live view.

Tip 2: Shade or flag the lens to block the offending light. Hold your hand, a hat, or a small black card just outside the frame and take a test shot in under a minute.

Tip 3: Use the right hood and clean glass, or remove weak filters. Pop off a UV/protective filter for one test frame, then wipe the front element with a microfiber cloth.

Tip 4: Tweak exposure and aperture to protect highlights. Drop exposure by two thirds to one stop, use highlight-weighted or spot metering, and stop down a click to tighten the flare pattern.

Tip 5: Fix in post using Dehaze, local healing, cloning, or a simple composite. In Lightroom or Photoshop, try a quick local Dehaze pass and a spot heal on the brightest streak first.

Do this first in order: shoot RAW and bracket exposures to save highlight detail, then try angle changes and hard shading. Add the correct hood or a flag, and only then move to editing.

Two quick warnings can save your file. Do not overdo Dehaze or you will get halos and muddy shadows, and do not stack cheap filters because they multiply reflections. Always check your edits at 100% before you export.

Change Your Camera Position

Light obeys angles, so the angle of incidence controls where reflections land. A tiny move can shift a flare off your subject or out of the frame entirely.

Use live view and make slow, small adjustments. Slide left or right by a few inches, then try a small vertical shift like a knee bend or a step on a curb.

Tilt the camera up or down a few degrees to steer the reflections inside the lens. Move a little closer or back to see if the flare shape changes with magnification.

Zooming can help too because flare patterns change with focal length. Roll through your zoom range in small steps while watching how the streaks move.

Pick simple, stable settings so tests are quick. Use aperture-priority or manual, keep ISO low for clean files, and use highlight-weighted or spot metering to keep bright areas under control.

If you are on a tripod, turn on mirror-lockup or use a remote release. This keeps your test frames sharp, so you can judge subtle streak differences.

Stop moving once the streak is outside the frame or lands in a quiet area of the image. If you want a creative flare, place it to balance the composition and avoid covering important detail.

Here is a night streetlamp example. With a 35 mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 200, and 1/60, a 15 degree sidestep pushed the green streak out of the sky and cleared the sign text; if you want intentional trails, explore light trail settings instead.

For a backlit portrait, a small change works too. With an 85 mm at f/2.8, ISO 100, and 1/800, tilting down 10 degrees hid the sun just behind a branch and erased the veil of haze across the eyes.

Shade Your Lens

Flares often disappear when you block stray light before it hits the glass. A proper lens hood, a small black flag, your hand, or even a hat can do the job.

Use the hood designed for your lens, and make sure it clicks into place. If the sun is just outside the frame, angle a flag between the light and the lens, but keep it out of the shot.

For handheld work, stretch your hand like a brim just beyond the edge of the frame. Take a quick test shot, then adjust the angle until the streak fades without casting a shadow on your subject.

On a tripod, a DIY flag is easy. Tape a piece of matte black card to a light stand or a spare tripod and slide it until the flare vanishes while you watch live view.

Wide-angle lenses can vignette if you use big hoods or thick flags. Switch to a thin card or move your position slightly to keep corners clean.

Filters can reflect and create streaks, especially stacked or low-quality ones. Try a test frame with the UV filter removed, or swap to a multicoated filter to reduce reflections.

Some streaks come from leaks, not flare. Film shooters should check the door seals and tape gaps, while DSLR and mirrorless users should cover the viewfinder or accessory ports in harsh backlight.

Keep your optics clean, because grease and dust spread light into a haze. In controlled setups, dull shiny surfaces near the lens with matte black gaffer tape, and learn more with focused photography education when you start using flags and scrims.

Use the Dehaze Tool in Photoshop or Lightroom

Dehaze is a fast way to tame hazy streaks. In Lightroom’s Develop module or Camera Raw, find the Dehaze slider; in Photoshop go to Filter, Camera Raw Filter, then use Dehaze.

Work nondestructively so you can dial back later. In Photoshop duplicate your layer first, and in Lightroom use a virtual copy or keep edits in the history.

Start with a modest global move and watch the histogram. Try +10 to +30 Dehaze, then check if highlights clip or colors shift too much.

Recover tone after the first pass. Lower Highlights and Whites a little, then fine-tune Contrast or Exposure to avoid a dull look.

Most streaks are local, so target them with a mask. Use a Brush or Linear Gradient restricted to the affected area so the rest of the image stays natural.

Go slow and watch edges for halos or crunchy noise. If you see color blotches or crushed shadows, back off Dehaze and add a touch of Clarity or Texture instead.

Example one is a small diagonal streak across a building sign. A masked +20 Dehaze, -20 Highlights, and a touch of -5 Whites cleared the haze without dulling the sky, following similar reduce glare tips from seasoned editors.

Example two is a heavy flare washing a portrait cheek. A masked +35 Dehaze plus a quick clone of a clean skin patch at 30% opacity blended the tone while keeping natural texture.

Post-processing Adjustments to Reduce Flares

Beyond Dehaze, local tools finish the job. In Lightroom use the Brush with Dehaze, Highlights, Whites, and Exposure to nudge small zones until the balance looks right.

Good starting values are simple. Try Brush Feather 50–100, Flow 20–40, and Dehaze around +20; if you prefer a soft glow instead, move Dehaze toward -20 and compensate with Highlights.

Use Spot Removal with Heal for tiny streaks or dots. If the color or texture smears, switch to Clone and sample a clean area at a lower opacity for a gentler blend.

Photoshop gives you heavy-duty options. Content-Aware Fill can remove a large streak, then the Healing Brush and Clone Stamp rebuild fine texture and edges.

When color and texture need separate control, split the work. Use frequency separation so you can fix blotchy color on the low layer and paint back pores or grain on the high layer.

Compositing is the cleanest fix when you planned ahead. Blend a bracketed frame or a second shot where the streak moved, and mask in the unaffected area with a soft brush.

Balance tones so the repair disappears. Reduce Whites and Highlights in the patched zone, lift Shadows if they look crushed, and use a small S-curve to match contrast.

Match texture so the patch is invisible. Add a tiny amount of noise, about 0.5 to 1 percent, to the repaired area to blend with the native grain.

Always judge at 100 percent. Pan along edges, look for halos, and confirm the light direction still makes sense after your fix.

Here is a quick fix path when you are in a hurry. Paint a local Dehaze pass and tap the Heal tool on bright streak fragments, then finish with a small Highlights reduction.

Here is an advanced path when quality matters. Duplicate the layer, run Content-Aware Fill on the big shape, refine with Healing and Clone, balance with a Curves layer, then add a hint of noise to match grain.

The best capture habits make editing easier, and they also explain how to fix light streaks in photos before they start. Always shoot RAW, bracket exposures by one or two stops around the base, and use a hood matched to your focal length.

Test both with and without a UV or protective filter whenever you face the sun. Some filters create the streak, and the fastest answer is to remove it for the shot, then put it back.

Work nondestructively so you can adapt the look. Keep the original layer, use masks for every big change, and reset your view to 100 percent after each step to confirm the repair is clean.

If an edit looks fake, soften it. Feather the mask edge, reintroduce a tiny amount of the original layer in your blend, and add a touch of grain to prevent a plastic patch.

Dehaze numbers are only a guide, so feel free to experiment. For moderate streaks try a global +10 to +30, and for localized flare use a mask so the rest of the scene stays bright and natural.

Every lens flares differently, so keep testing angles and shading. With a little practice, you will know how to fix light streaks in photos on location, and finish the cleanup in minutes during editing.

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Final Thoughts on Removing Light Glare

There’s a simple win here: follow the five quick tips and you’ll rescue many shots that once seemed ruined—like that streak on frame 270—so your highlights stay readable and your subject stays clear. That core payoff—faster fixes and cleaner images whether you’re shooting city nights, backlit portraits, or landscapes—comes with a realistic caution: don’t over-dehaze or stack cheap filters, and always check edits at 100% to avoid halos or weird texture. This approach benefits anyone who shoots into bright lights, from hobbyists to pros, because it gives both shoot-time tricks and editing recipes you can apply right away.

You asked how to fix light streaks in photos, and the piece answered with clear actions—angle changes, quick shading, the right hood/filter checks, plus Dehaze and clone/composite techniques so you can choose a fast or advanced fix. Try the shoot-first checklist on your next outing, and when you edit work nondestructively with masks and subtle Dehaze so results look natural. Keep experimenting and you’ll shoot cleaner highlights and more intentional flares as your style evolves.