I have read and tried a couple starburst techniques. Making sure that F/22 is the setting and or making sure that the sun touches something. Both seem to work well. I had the opportunity to photograph a couple ships coming into the arbor in Two Harbors, MN this weekend. And of course had to try. Settings were ISO360/ f.2/ .5 of a second with tripod. How do I do it better?
I believe small aperture is the key. So nighttime shots are likely going to need longer exposure, and so won't work very well on moving ships. But the loading dock lights should work well. What aperture did you use? I see you said "F.2", but maybe that's a typo? -- Dave
F2.8. Wonder where the 8 went. I think a longer exposure could have been used. It was moving, but probably slow enough to move it to a full 2 seconds or so.
WoodnMetalGuy wrote:
I believe small aperture is the key. So nighttime shots are likely going to need longer exposure, and so won't work very well on moving ships. But the loading dock lights should work well. What aperture did you use? I see you said "F.2", but maybe that's a typo? -- Dave
lorim222315 wrote:
I have read and tried a couple starburst techniques. Making sure that F/22 is the setting and or making sure that the sun touches something. Both seem to work well. I had the opportunity to photograph a couple ships coming into the arbor in Two Harbors, MN this weekend. And of course had to try. Settings were ISO360/ f.2/ .5 of a second with tripod. How do I do it better?
It's too hard to tell since you didn't use the (store original) check box. It could be because it's not in focus, or not zoomed far enough in. It could be the lens you are using. I think the effect is perpetuated by the aperture diaphragm and how many blades it has and the shape of the said blades. The number of rays from each starburst is related to the number of aperture blades in your lens. The more blades your lens has, the more “starburst” is possible. You can also buy and inexpensive filter to cause this effect. So if your lens won't achieve the look you want, buy this inexpensive filter and you will get it every time.
Thanks. I am going to try and select store original.
F2.8 is a wide aperture. You want a small one. Like F16 or F22 to get the burst rays... -- Dave
Thank WoodnMetal Guy. I think my efforts would have been better served to bump up the ISO and a longer exposure to compensate for the F stop. I should have tried on something still.
I used 24-70 / ISO320
WoodnMetalGuy wrote:
F2.8 is a wide aperture. You want a small one. Like F16 or F22 to get the burst rays... -- Dave
Yes, right. Working on a tripod with a static subject, I wouldn't bump ISO too high to avoid noise. Just go with longer exposure. You may need 20 or 30 seconds.
Aperture is a little confusing as small numbers are big aperture, and larger numbers are smaller aperture. And you want the small aperture to get the 'starburst' or 'rays' effect. -- Dave
if you can't use a small aperture, use a star effect in post
lorim222315 wrote:
Thank WoodnMetal Guy. I think my efforts would have been better served to bump up the ISO and a longer exposure to compensate for the F stop. I should have tried on something still.
I used 24-70 / ISO320
Now that you've posted it and use the (store original) check box I can see that the EXIF report of f/2.8 was used. You need a tripod and to set your f/stop to f/16 to f/22 to get the effect you want. But I do see that even at f/2.8 you got some star effect. What I do is try different f/stops like f/8 f/11 f/16 and so on and then check them out on the computer. Remember, it's virtually free to shoot as many pics as needed or wanted. Cull through them on the computer and 86 the unwanted images.
Why not just use a starburst filter, either on the lens or in PP?
Well, if you use a small aperture... you'll have to increase time, and thus get a blurred boat... but don't despair! Think outside the box here.
Take two images- one for the burst, the other for the boat and combine the two in photoshop- Using JUST THE BURST from the one... the burst will be easy to isolate and add on top of the burst from the image shot for the boat- you'll have the right perspective- etc... and will be as accurate as possible haveing the nuances of a distant light.. changes in color etc. etc. . I mention this because you can add bursts post Process with a brush... but it will be "fake" and thus much harder to make believable- a good retoucher could do it. But your lens - depending on the design, will have a much more interesting pattern IMHO
RichieC - I'm thinking that won't work because the 'burst' photo is the one you need the long exposure for, and so the burst will be blurred as the boat moves. Am I missing something? -- Dave
lorim222315 wrote:
I have read and tried a couple starburst techniques. Making sure that F/22 is the setting and or making sure that the sun touches something. Both seem to work well. I had the opportunity to photograph a couple ships coming into the arbor in Two Harbors, MN this weekend. And of course had to try. Settings were ISO360/ f.2/ .5 of a second with tripod. How do I do it better?
I've used a star filter... it worked pretty well I thought.
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