Purple Prose + TIME

Tip #51: Seeing Stars

I don’t mean the type of stars seen in the night sky, or the ones cartoon characters see when conked on the head (by the way, I’ve yet to see those stars when I’m hit on the head). I mean the formation of a light source to resemble a star, like the example shown here.

There are three ways of achieving this effect. Okay, maybe four. I haven’t yet checked to see if I can do it with Photoshop Elements.

Star Filter
This is a special type of filter you screw on the end of your lens, which bends the light rays in a certain way to create the star effect. I don’t have one.

Aperture
For this picture, I adjusted my aperture to the largest number (the smallest opening). I also positioned the camera so the light source was just peeking above the branch to get the maximum effect. Experiment with this technique to get the best results. As I’ve mentioned before, expect to take a lot of photos.

Facial Oil
Okay, this is just plain gross and I haven’t tried it. My photography instructor from years ago told me about it. According to him, you draw a star shape on the lens where you want the effect to be. ’Nuff said.

In this picture, the light source was the sun. Be careful when shooting directly into the sun. It can damage the eye. It wasn’t a problem here (I hope) because of the placement of the branch and the minimal amount of light shining through. You can also use this effect on with the light source reflecting of another surface.

Like anything in photography, the only limitation to great pictures is your creativity. So go forth and play around with the aperture technique and see how many star different formations you can create.

best, hope, LIFE, and more:

Tip #51: Seeing Stars + TIME