Starbursts for beginners

[stoj19]

thanks for the help

[driftr]

thanks alot for the info allan,
i was waiting for my indian take away and had my camera with me and was playing around tonight. went through each fstop to see the difference... i will remember it next time im doing night shots

[Dr Zeus]

Thanks for the info great help

[IanB]

That maybe the new fizzbang way Allann; and this is an old fashioned way; fly screen gauze.

One piece in front of the lens like a filter will give a four point star; double it will give 8 point star.

But I'll have to try the new way; thanks for that Allann

[Clubmanmc]

hmmmm

i wish i had my old 75-300 that had a F32...

M

[Allann]

hmmmm

i wish i had my old 75-300 that had a F32...

M

70-200 does as well, and you have one of them.

[makro]

thanks for the tutorial allan.

[mikew09]

Hey Allann,
I have wondered about the star burst effect in some of the forum photos. I always thought it was filter related only. Armed with new knowledge I will give this a crack.

Thanks

Mike

[Allann]

Max Cooper (http://darktopography.blogspot.com) taught me that, in regards to night photography, f2.8 and larger will create orbs of light where f8 and smaller will create the stars discussed in this thread, though I wouldn't go past f8 at night.

To quote darktopography.com from 6 june 2009:

-I used two apertures, f2.8 and f8. I would shoot five frames of each, starting at 5 seconds, and bracketing up to 80 seconds. This assured a VERY wide range of exposures, so that I could be reasonably sure I got the shot. It also gave me two different renderings of light sources.

The inclusion of light sources in those early images was very important to me. In addition to aesthetics, I had thematic reasons for including a source. Wide apertures render light sources as indistinct orbs; narrow apertures will bend light around the corners of the iris, creating sharp star-shapes.

This i can understand how the higher f8 at a long exposure could probably create such a star shape. But I have found that even at f32 on my 50D at the time and 5D2 now will produce limited stars (70-200 2.8). The sharper the aperture blade corners in the lens the bigger the star shape. Each lens will be different.

Quick question though, did you get the OK to post his image on AP or are we now in breech of copyright on that image?

[melmo78]

wow thanks for the tutorial im going to give that a go this weekend

[Jacs14]

Thanks Allan for the tutorial ... tried it out the other day!!!!
1st attempt

[Allann]

Great first attempt. Well Done. I realise it was an attempt to do the starburst, but in this shot I would have either put the sun right in the middle, or 2/3 across. Keep em coming though, try a street shot next using the street or car lights at night.

[Natsky]

Been playing around recently with starbursts so here are 2 lenses to add to the mix.

This is the Nikon 14 -24 f/2.8 @ f/11


and this is the Nikon 10.5mm f2.8 @ f/8


After reading Allann's post, I will be choosing a much smaller aperture next time I have a play.

[Wayne]

I wonder where diffraction plays it's part if at all given the small fstop's like f22-32

[dieselpower]

Thanks for this handy Tip Allann.

Put it into practice yesterday while out 4wding and got a few shots.


I know this one is blurry - slow shutter speed (1/30) and moving subject made it somewhat difficult.

[beckett5361]

Hi I gave this a try and while it was not as good as I wanted it I will give it some more practise thanks for the info.

[makro]

a quick question. wouldnt all this looking into the sun play havoc with your vision? Maybe using live view mode (if your camera has it) would be better if you are taking shots of the sun.

Thoughts anyone?

[Regnis]

thanks very much for this allen..will come in very hand in the next couple of weeks for me

[Elvie]

Thanks Allann, I will be having more practice with this now that I am wiser on the tricks. Elvie