sunburst | kritterspix

Sun star

Posted on October 17, 2020October 17, 2020 by kritterspaw

Call ’em what you will – sun star, sunburst, starburst, sunray, or just plain fun.

I love doing sunstars. A sunburst adds a dimension to any photograph and point of interest.

Sun bursts through the trees to reflect through the Aspen Trees

I am often complemented at my use of adding sunrays with a a star filter, program, or app. The truth is, sun bursts are very easy to do in camera. No apps required.

All one needs is a wide angle focal point and small aperture. I love my Canon 16mm, set at f/11 for these great results. Sometimes you have to take a number of photos to get the sun poking through the trees just right.

You may have to split a tree to showcase the sunburst, rather than just looking directly at it with full intensity.

But, it’s an easy thing to do, at sunrise, sunset, or even mid day.

As with any photograph – look ahead, look behind, look all around, and look up. Sometimes the best things are just ahead of us.

Change the Vision

Posted on October 25, 2019October 25, 2019 by kritterspaw

I love Fall. The colors are stunning. Though I do find it difficult to capture.

This season, I decided to challenge myself and shoot ‘out of the box’. It appears experts are always looking for something new and different. It doesn’t even matter what the field. Something edgy that hasn’t been done before often ‘wins’ over tried-and-true.

I’m happy to learn techniques, composition, and style that I can apply and repeat. But I suppose that one could argue that such a philosophy can yield predictability and common-place results.

I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. That’s for the eye of the beholder… and the end user to decide.

FernBurst Vert_IR.jpg

Mood lighting

Posted on October 19, 2019October 19, 2019 by kritterspaw

TreeBurst Vert_IR.jpg

As I continue to improve my photography, I think about what that means. It’s all about the light – dawn & dusk, we are so often told.

It’s complicated though. Light is bright and shadows are dark, how does one even them out and still add emotion, mood, and interest?

Tree Shadow_IR.jpg

Light is the master of depth. We need light to make our ‘hero’ shine, or our supporting cast fade into the background. In this way we can isolate our subject so we know what (or who) it is.

Fog and smoke provide a fantastic mood factor, allowing us to separate the foreground from the background. While our controlled burns up north can be dreary to look at… they can also make for some very moody exciting pix.

Light rays illuminate and become visible through the smoke or fog in the air, distinguishing different elements of the life in the forest.

The fog creates a diffusion through the harsh light, from which comes clarity.

Sun Burst

Posted on June 21, 2015 by kritterspaw

Maybe you knew this… but I recently learned it, so I thought I’d share.

Somehow, I assumed those sunburst photos I saw in magazines were Photoshop’d. I thought they had some filter or plug-in that they applied to a sun to give it that starburst effect.

Not so! Set your aperture on f/11 or f/16 and point at the sun. (I know, we were all taught not to point at the sun… someone’s been keeping this cool trick from us!). Hide the sun behind a piece of tree to obstruct the full blast of the sun, and move around until you see the starburst. Click!