Okay,
I’ll admit it; I’m a sucker for elegantly crisp sunstars. I may go so
far as to say that I’m addicted to them; not in a shady, I’ll break into
your house for prescription meds kind of way, but more like if it’s
readily available I’m happy to imbibe sort
of way. I especially like using them in my landscapes to create an
additional element of interest, particularly when the cloud gods are
punishing me for previous transgressions and there’s nothing but blue
sky overhead. However, like all things fun and sinful, too much of a
good thing is still too much (except of course tequila, just ask George)
so you should be careful not to overdo them or use them in excess for
fear your portfolio will start to look a little gimmicky.
Before
I risk offending anyone else with my slightly off-color attempts at
humor, here are my 5 tips for creating killer sunstars in your images.
1) Small Apertures
– generally speaking, you’ll have to use a small aperture, something
like f16 or f22 to make fully-formed crisp sun stars. Wider apertures
like f2.8 or f5.6 simply don’t cut it on most lenses. The starburst is
caused by light passing through a small aperture and being diffracted
(or spread out) across the aperture blades in the lens. The more blades
and the less curved they are the better the star. Not all lenses are
created equally, see #5 below.
2) Hard Edge Obstruction
– Although you can make a nice star when shooting the sun high in the
sky, I generally find I get the best results (i.e. small size with
minimal flare) when I play peek-a-boo with the light source. To do this
I’ll position the camera so the sun (or other light source) is mostly
obscured by some compositional element in my frame – something like a
clean horizon, edge of a tree, rock outcrop or building. I find that
harder and/or smoother edges yield the best results.
3) High Fidelity Light –
In addition to obscuring the light source, I find it’s best to use what I
call high-fidelity light, namely light that is pure and clean. When
the light is being filtered through high clouds, atmospheric haze or fog
the resulting sunstars tend to be muddy and lack clarity. I also like
low-angle, warm light around sunrise and sunset for my sunstars.
4) Use Live View to Preview
– Once I’ve settled on my composition and am ready to shoot I like to
use Live View in conjunction with the depth of field preview button
(sorry Nikon people) to preview how my sunstar will look as well as get a
sense for how much flare is being produced. You may be surprised to
see how much a little shift in camera position (up/down, left/right) can
change the size and shape of your sunstar, as well as how much
resulting flare you’ve got in the frame. You can also use this method
when choosing your aperture as you’ll see exactly what the sunstar will
look like. You may not need to stop all the way down to f22 to get the
desired effect.
5) Not all Lenses are Equal
– Unfortunately this is one area where the gear really does make the
difference. Not all lenses make sunstars or handle flare equally.
Generally speaking, the higher quality “pro” level glass make better,
more defined sunstars than “consumer” level lenses. And even some pro
level lenses simply make better sunstars than others. For example, it’s
widely known that the Canon EF 16-35 f2.8L II makes one of the best
sunstars around, significantly better even than its own predecessor.
I’ve had other Canon L series lenses that cover the same range of focal
lengths but don’t make very appealing sunstars. Not that this is the
sole reason to purchase a particular lens – but it may be a significant
consideration for some.
Bonus – As a final tip, I
recommend shooting an exposure with the light source completely blocked
in order to get a frame with little to no flare. You can do this by
shooting a frame before the sun pops out or right after it disappears
from view, or perhaps even by blocking it with your thumb or hand. You
can then use this frame to blend out offensive flare using layers and
masks in Photoshop. This can save you a lot of time cloning and healing
in post.
