Dreamy Photography: How to Add Light Leaks and Flares with DIY Tools

There’s something so timeless and magical about the dreamy photography aesthetic.

Perhaps it’s the way it makes images look like stills from a movie, or the fact that dreamy images often evoke a sense of nostalgia or longing.

I’m a self-portrait photographer, and I’m happy to say that I’m a HUGE fan of dreamy photography:

I love how soft light, subtle glow, and unexpected flares can take an image from average to ethereal.

When it comes to my self-portraits, I often intentionally add light leaks and flares to give them an emotional, cinematic quality; think Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola or Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino.

The best part?

You don’t need a high-end studio or expensive filters to create a dreamy photography aesthetic.

In fact, you can achieve incredible dreamy effects with simple household items and some creative lighting.

In this post, I’ll share how to achieve dreamy photography using DIY tools like glass, plastic, CDS, or prisms.

Whether you’re shooting digital or film, these techniques are simple, mostly free, and so much fun to experiment with.

Let’s get started!

1. What Makes a Photo “Dreamy”?

Before diving into the techniques, let’s first define the dreamy photo aesthetic.

Dreamy photography usually includes one or more of the following:

• soft focus or blur
• gentle lighting, often backlit or overexposed
• warm or pastel colour tones
• visible flares, halos, or light leaks
• a sense of mood or nostalgia.

The dreamy aesthetic is often inspired by vintage photography, film stills, or movies known for their delicate, light-flooded aesthetic.

I’ve noticed that you get the best effects when combining several of the above elements:

For example, I may use a soft focus filter (more on that later), wear an outfit in pastel colours, and use one of the tools in this post to create light flares.

Before I move on to the next section…did you know you can download my free ebook with 50 portrait photography ideas? More info below:

…but now, back to the blog post!

In the next section, let’s talk about which easy tools you can use to create flares and light leaks.

2. Tools to Create Dreamy Photo Effects

You can achieve dreamy effects using surprisingly simple materials.

Here are a few tools that can create beautiful distortions and refractions:

2. 1 Glass Objects (Wine Glasses, Crystal, Vases)

This is one of my favourite tools for creating light flares because glass refracts and scatters light in unpredictable ways.

Hence, holding a wine glass or crystal in front of your lens can introduce soft, curved flares or colour streaks, depending on your light source.

Tip: Place your main light behind the subject, hold the glass near the edge of your lens, and tilt slightly to catch flare.

Play around with how much of the image you want to be affected by flares.

I like it when the flare only encroaches on the images from one corner, for example.

To see this tool used in action, check out my photo shoot behind-the-scenes video below.

In it, I take a series of dreamy self-portraits in the style of Sofia Coppola:

2.2 CDs and DVDs

The next tool you can use for a dreamy photography aesthetic are CDS or DVDs:

These create sharp, rainbow-like flares when angled toward a strong light source.

You can see an example here:

To achieve this effect, hold the CD or DVD out of frame and rotate slowly to find the angle where you start seeing rainbow flares in your picture.

It can be a bit tricky to get the angle right, so you may need to experiment a bit to achieve the desired effect.

2.3 Prisms

Prisms split light into rainbows and geometric patterns.

They will give you cleaner, more precise flares than glass and work well in harsh light.

The prism doesn’t even have to be made from glass; a cheap plastic prism toy can do the trick, too.

You can buy glass or plastic prisms online, e.g. here.

If you want to dive deeper into prism photography, there’s also a great post by Adobe here.

2.4 Plastic Wrap or Packaging Film

Another fun tool for a dreamy photography aesthetic is crumpled clear plastic (like cellophane or cling film).

This kind of material adds blur and texture, especially around the frame edges.

It’s great for softening the scene or creating a hazy border.

You can wrap the plastic loosely over your lens hood or hold it in place while shooting.

You can also colour it with a marker for tint effects.

2.5 Soap Bubbles (Experimental)

Soap bubbles are a little more unpredictable, but fun to try!

They can reflect soft circular glows if you catch them mid-air in the right light.

Below, you can see an example of me using bubbles.

This is not a final image, just one of the images from a shoot I didn’t use in the end.

You can see the colourful rainbow streaks and white highlights that help create a dreamy photo aesthetic:

Note: Bubbles are definitely not always effective, but you may get “happy accidents”, so it’s worth experimenting.

2.6 Soft Focus Filters

While not strictly DIY, affordable soft focus filters can give your photos a beautiful, subtle haze and bloom effect.

When buying a soft focus filter, make sure to buy the right size for your lens diameter.

You can find this information on the side of your lens – look for the ⌀ symbol.

I LOVE soft focus filters; they will give you that very glamorous dreamy photo aesthetic reminiscent of Old Hollywood portraits.

In the next section, let’s talk about how to best light your dreamy photos.

3. Mastering Light for Dreamy Flares and Refractions

Lighting is extremely important when it comes to capturing dreamy, ethereal photos with beautiful flares and soft refractions.

Here are some practical lighting tips for your dreamy photography shoots:

3.1 Shoot Into the Light

Position your subject with the light source behind them:

This creates backlighting, which will often lead to natural flares and refractions.

The best time of day for this (if you’re shooting outdoors) is during golden hour: the sun will be low and warm, casting a soft glow.

If you’re shooting indoors, use a continuous light source or a strobe.

Ideally, the light source shouldn’t be too soft and diffused but rather hard and direct, such as a bare bulb, flashlight, or LED light.

Position it behind or slightly to the side of your subject to create a backlit glow.

3.2 Get the Angle and Placement Right

Move your light until it hits your lens at the right angle for flares or glows.

To create organic flare shapes, try placing the light just out of frame or partially blocked by an object (like a plant, curtain, or your subject’s hair).

If you’re using objects like a CD, a prism or a wine glass, you may have to experiment a little until you find the right angle.

Keep adjusting and tilting either the object you’re using or your camera until you start to see dreamy flares appear in your frame.

3.3 Keep Your Aperture Wide

Next, it can help to use a low f-stop (like f/1.4–f/2.8).

This will create a soft, shallow depth of field and emphasise the dreamy effect.

3.4 Overexpose Your Images

Another tip for creating a dreamy photo aesthetic is slightly overexposing your images.

You could do this in camera by choosing a slower shutter speed and/or a wider aperture.

However, I don’t recommend this because it will be hard to fix during the editing stage if you overdo it and your images are way overexposed.

Instead, take your photos with the correct exposure and then increase the exposure and highlights in Photoshop or other editing software.

In the next section, let’s talk about how to intentionally use styling for a dreamy photo aesthetic.

4. Styling for a Dreamy Aesthetic

Another important element when it comes to dreamy photography is styling.

There are certain colours, materials and objects that help create an ethereal, magical quality in your images.

Here are some examples:

4.1 Pastel or Neutral Tones

When putting together an outfit for your dreamy photo shoot, try using pastels or neutral tones like soft pink, beige, cream, etc.

These will create a gentle, soft mood to enhance your dreamy flashes and light leaks.

4.2 Textured Materials

Next, I love using delicate, textured materials for my dreamy photo shoots, such as lace, silk, tool, or shear fabrics.

If you don’t have the right outfits for this purpose, check out some vintage or thrift stores.

You can often find beautiful lace or silk outfits and lingerie that will really give you that Sophia Coppola vibe.

4.3 Props

Finally, you can always incorporate props to enhance your dreamy photography.

Good examples are flowers, vintage jewellery, beautiful mirrors, ribbons, or other vintage items.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on this–I often find incredible props for photo shoots at flea markets or in thrift stores.

Another advantage of using props is that you can incorporate storytelling into your images through symbolism.

To learn more about this topic, read my previous post here.

Hopefully, you now have a good idea of how to use household objects, camera settings, props, and styling to create a dreamy aesthetic in your photos.

In the last section of this blog post, I will share some final tips for creating dreamy images.

5. Final Tips for Dreamy Photos

Here are some final tips for creating ethereal, dreamy photos:

5.1 Use Body Language

If you’re taking a portrait or self-portrait, think about how you can use body language to emphasise the dreamy mood of your image.

For example, try photographing your subject with closed eyes for a still, serene mood, or have them gently flip their hair or sway for gentle motion blur.

5.2 Keep Experimenting

Dreamy photography is all about experimenting.

It’s not an exact science, like, for example, Rembrandt lighting, where the light has to be set up at a precise angle.

Instead, you’re relying on chance and happy accidents.

So don’t be discouraged if your first shots don’t look great.

Instead, try different camera settings, different household objects for creating flares, or moving your light source around until you get an effect you like.

5.3 Create the Right Mood

My final tip may seem silly, but it’s honestly the most crucial factor for me when I do photo shoots:

Play some music to create the right mood. 

For example, for my own last dreamy photo shoot, I put on a movie soundtrack with tracks by Air;  their flowing, atmospheric sounds created the perfect mood for my dreamy photo shoot.

So, pick the right music for whatever mood you’re trying to create, as it will most certainly give you better results.

Bonus– if you’re working with a model, playing music will help them relax and understand what mood you’re going for.

And that’s it!

I hope you found this post helpful.

If there’s any topic you would like me to cover next, make sure to leave me a comment below!