Using the smallest aperture will not give you the best sunstar thoughвЂ¦ДЇollowing the above logic, a higher f/stop should give you the pointiest sunstar. Even though my focus is set on the foreground, the result would be quite similar here if I pushed the slice of focus to the back. Here, my aperture was set to f/1.4, which is far too wide to create those points of light. This image was taken at f/16, which rendered the sunstar quite distinctly despite being partially hidden by the clouds. When your aperture opens, the blades spread out and create a rounder opening to let more light inвЂ¦.but that means they intersect at a lower angle and will produce softer points of light. Smaller apertures will produce stronger sunstars since they meet at a sharper angle than wider apertures.

Since a sunstar is the effect of light diffraction as it passes through where your aperture blades intersect, the shape of your blades control how your sunstarВ looksвЂ¦particularly, how sharp the angle is where the aperture blades intersect. So letвЂ™s dive a bit deeper as to how your aperture manipulates light.

However, not every lens is created equalвЂ¦some will produce spectacular sunstars, while others will be soft and weak. This is where diffraction comes into play (how light is altered as it passes through a small opening) and the light spreads out to create these вЂњraysвЂќ, giving your light source a sunstar effect. a deep blue sky), the light that passes through where the blades intersect and create an angle will be rendered as a point. When photographing light sources that are significantly brighter than the surrounding areas (such as the sun vs. HereвЂ™s the short version: the points of light you see are created by the aperture blades in your lens. To improve the quality of your sunstars, you need to know how your camera creates them in the first place. The good news is that itвЂ™s quite simple to create a crisp sunstarвЂ¦you just have to know the proper steps to enhance the clarity, sharpness and вЂњpointinessвЂќ of those magical rays of light. Even if youвЂ™re able to create a sunstar, sometimes the rays are blurry with lots of flareвЂ¦making it more of an eyesore than an enhancement. Just like most techniques in our craft, there are certain conditions that need to met in order to produce this wonderful effectвЂ¦both environmental and technical. Unfortunately, creating a sunstar is not as simple as flipping a switch. Sunstars (sometimes called вЂњstarburstsвЂќ) refer to when you can literally see rays of light emanating from the sun (like in the image above).ДЄctually, any light source can potentially become a sunstarвЂ¦the moon, street lights, and even reflected light, and is a technique often used to add another dimension of interest in night photography since there are so many potential light sources.

One powerful way to enhance interest and create a compelling focal point is to transform light sources (usually the sun) into a вЂњsunstarвЂќ. Us landscape photographers have little control over the environment we photographвЂ¦so we often rely on our camera skills to create the image we want by manipulating how the scene is rendered.

Sun flare exposure x