While I was in South Park last week, freezing everything off, I found that the sunrises and sunsets were not very impressive. The few low clouds on the horizon didn’t put forth much effort to improve matters. So I started focusing on sunstars to add a little pizzazz to my photos. Sunstars add a dramatic, eye-catching element to a photo. While they may be tricky, they’re not difficult to do.
The best way to create sunstars is to set the aperture to the smallest opening (largest number) possible. In most cases that will be f22 or larger. Reducing the aperture opening to a small point creates the star effect. The trick to sunstars is to put the sun completely behind a solid object. (See CAUTION at the end of this post.) Then shift the camera slightly until a small portion of the sun is peeking out from behind the object. Better yet, wait for the sun to creep out from behind the object as I did in this photo.
Your first attempts will point out one of the major difficulties in shooting sunstars. (Remember, I said they were tricky.) Having the sun in your shot can, and most likely will cause lens flare. Some people don’t mind a little flare and some hate them at all costs. I’m of the hate-’em-at-all-cost mentality. Lens flare is caused by the light bouncing back and forth between the lens elements. Therefore it stands to reason that the more lens elements you have the greater the chance of developing a lens flare. Zoom lenses are more prone to flare than primary lenses because they generally have more elements. The more of the sun that shows, the more likely you are get a flare. Also, the further from the center of the image you place the sun the more likely you are to get flare. To reduce or eliminate lens flare, first, shoot with less of the sun showing and second, move the sun nearer the center of the image. A little experimentation will show what works best for equipment.
Metering for sunstars can be tricky because the light is changing dramatically and very rapidly as the sun emerges from behind the object. The camera’s metering system can easily be fooled by the extremely bright sun and dark foreground, resulting in poorly exposed images. I prefer to set my camera to manual metering mode to keep the exposure from changing as the sun emerges. It helps me to control whether I have a black silhouette or allow detail to show in the foreground.
With a little patience and practice you’ll find sunstars can add an incredibly dramatic element to your photos.
You’ll find other examples of sunstars on my website.
CAUTION! Be extremely careful when shooting sunstars. Looking at the sun directly or through your camera can potentially damage your eyes.
