San Diego Photographer

Have you always wondered how to capture those cool starbursts in your photos? Well I will explain how simple it is to get this effect. First, I want to call out the rumor that you need to buy a specific type of filter in order to get this effect. This is not true. You can get this effect with any lens and no filters. Now filters do have their purpose but I will get to this later.
How to get the starburst effect?It is all about your aperture. The higher your f-stop the more of starburst you will have. It is that simple. Now the photos I have as examples below were taken at an f/22 aperture and that is why you see such an exaggerated starburst. Now if you were to shoot at f/8 you would still get a star effect, but it would be much less of a starry effect. You can get the starburst effect on any direct light source. This includes, but is not limited to:

• The sun
  
• Street lights
• Car lights
• Candle light
• Ceiling lights
• Much more...

So just remember when you are taking photos and you want to get that starburst effect just shoot at a higher f-stop. Typically f/16 and above is ideal. However, in situations where you need to shoot at a wide aperture like below f/8 that is when you need to use a filter.

San Diego Photographer
Capturing Strabursts in Photographs