Sun Rays -- how can I get them in my pictures? I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light...

jdmarks64

I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light streams are more pronounced than anything I've ever seen in nature. So, are such effects the results of careful planning and set-up? Or do they happen in post-production? Or is luck involved? Or, as I suspect, is it some combination of all three? Any tips or enlightenment (no pun intended) will be mucho appreciated. Thanks. John Marks

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Try shooting through trees with a very small aperture, f/22 for example.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

https://youtu.be/0H9MdaK-D98

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

The few I have shot are due to atmospheric conditions, mostly during costal dawn shoots.
I may use a ND grad to stop the sky blowing out and when PPing increaase the saturation and contast of the sky (if needeed) to bring them out.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Shoot into the sun through trees when it is foggy.

IBM

It has to be
a late setting son , when it's making a lot of shadows, a setting sun makes the wires on the power poles really stand
They glow like there lit up , a setting sun under the right conditions , a waterfall , with a big spray , trees with smog or fog , f8 and be there

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

jdmarks64 wrote:

I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light streams are more pronounced than anything I've ever seen in nature. So, are such effects the results of careful planning and set-up? Or do they happen in post-production? Or is luck involved? Or, as I suspect, is it some combination of all three? Any tips or enlightenment (no pun intended) will be mucho appreciated. Thanks. John Marks

If you can view through your lens, stop down to smaller apertures and you’ll see the effect. It’s not much of a photographer who trusts to luck!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

dirtpusher wrote:

https://youtu.be/0H9MdaK-D98

Yup, you can "do it" with Photoshop. But as described you can also capture the effect naturally. May also be affected by lens formula and the number and shape of iris blades in addition to F-stop.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

jdmarks64 wrote:

I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light streams are more pronounced than anything I've ever seen in nature. So, are such effects the results of careful planning and set-up? Or do they happen in post-production? Or is luck involved? Or, as I suspect, is it some combination of all three? Any tips or enlightenment (no pun intended) will be mucho appreciated. Thanks. John Marks

A little luck is always involved, but one has to look out for the right conditions too! A little fog/mist is really helpful for those situations. Mainly it is patience (again), as it is with almost all other aspects of photography!

JuleeC66 Loc: Currently Arizona

I learned in class that to get a sunburst/starburst effect, use a narrow aperture and wide focal length and get just the edge of the light enough to produce the effect. I was on Manual, f/25, 1/30, ISO 100, exposure comp 2.67, WB sun, focal length 20mm. I did put too much sun in my attached photo because there shouldn't be the colored circles, just the sunburst. I will go back and try again until I get it perfect but I was pretty excited with my first attempt.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

jdmarks64 wrote:

I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light streams are more pronounced than anything I've ever seen in nature. So, are such effects the results of careful planning and set-up? Or do they happen in post-production? Or is luck involved? Or, as I suspect, is it some combination of all three? Any tips or enlightenment (no pun intended) will be mucho appreciated. Thanks. John Marks

It's a combination of planning, conditions and post processing

Here is one of the many ways you can do it in Photoshop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDyLwMtT-E

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Natural rays can be helped, even created with pp. Sun "star" effect by using f22.

Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA

Sun rays are around us many times, and when you look for them, they will be there, unless the day is full sunshine of course. They can be enhanced in various ways, both with a filter and in post-processing. Fogg when the sun starts to shine through or clouds with sun behind them usually will have sun rays somewhere. The trick is to have the camera with you at the time!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

jdmarks64 wrote:

I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light streams are more pronounced than anything I've ever seen in nature. So, are such effects the results of careful planning and set-up? Or do they happen in post-production? Or is luck involved? Or, as I suspect, is it some combination of all three? Any tips or enlightenment (no pun intended) will be mucho appreciated. Thanks. John Marks

First, you have to see the light rays. It's like those light rays you see streaming from the clouds. You can't photograph them if they aren't there. I was lucky enough to get a shot like that on the Hudson River a couple of years ago. It was the right combination of clouds, and sun.

https://www.meetup.com/Sony-Photography-Events-British-Columbia/messages/boards/thread/40142062
http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/5082/how-can-i-get-photos-showing-the-shaft-of-light-effect
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/tips-on-photographing-sunbeams-through-trees-28074

More on YouTube.

Mary Kate Loc: NYC

jdmarks64 wrote:

I've always been intrigued by photos showing light rays streaming through trees or clouds or whatever. In a lot of instances, the light streams are more pronounced than anything I've ever seen in nature. So, are such effects the results of careful planning and set-up? Or do they happen in post-production? Or is luck involved? Or, as I suspect, is it some combination of all three? Any tips or enlightenment (no pun intended) will be mucho appreciated. Thanks. John Marks

We were in Florence and this shot was pure luck. Right spot at the right time.