Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

These 2 pictures were taken just seconds apart - you can see the same cars sitting waiting for the traffic lights to change. Can anyone tell me why the lights have flared in one but not in the other?

I like the effect - I used to have a filter back in the dark ages which would give a star effect to any point light source, and it basically stayed on the lens all the time.

I just don't know what is different. I don't *think* I changed any camera settings between shots... Ah, I lied! The first one was 1/10 at f4.5, the one with the flares was 4/10ths at f8.

This is my first real try with long exposures, so is this what made the difference? The longer time allowed the lights to 'burn in' to the image more?

1/10 second at f4.5


4/10s at f8

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

It's due to the smaller aperture. Here's an explanation with good examples. http://www.clickinmoms.com/blog/creating-starbursts-in-your-photographs-tutorial/

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Thank you for the link. It makes sense, once it's explained!

I just got back from a few hours in the park, shooting trees/skies for trying with HDR. I was shooting them all at f8, given that that is the smallest my lens will go. I think I had the sun in the frame for a few of them, so I might have caught the same effect there.