Confession time: As a former photojournalist for a newspaper back when you could still get ink on your fingers, I was taught to avoid lens flare at all cost.

For those unfamiliar, lens flare, as I learned it, can range from small, almost imperceptible white imperfections cast by a low sun (the acne of golden hour, if you will) to an almost frame-filling filter of orange that is, admittedly, very pretty.

It turns out that the fun of lens flare is the space in between those two extremes. After three years in Austin, a lot of that time spent learning from other photographers who weren’t splitting their education between apertures and AP Style, I’ve finally come around to taking some chances with lighting.

Not every photo is a win. But at least every photo is different.