The Concept:
In Today’s Photo Minute, we introduce the easy technique to get a starburst effect in your photos that have a point light source such as the sun, a streetlight, etc.
The Assignment:
Go to the highest aperture (F16, F22 or F32) on your lens and find a point light source. Be careful about looking through the viewfinder at the sun unless it is a sunrise or sunset situation or very small in the frame. You can do the same with a streetlight at night, a spotlight, a bright reflection off of a lake or a water drop, etc. and see how it looks in the final image. Sometimes you can see even more effect by shooting through trees, etc. with the sun just coming around the edge of the foreground subject. Be aware that you might see some results of lens flare (direct light hitting the lens can cause loss of detail in the shadow areas, streaks of color in the photo, etc.). Have fun seeing what you can do with this technique in different situations.
