Sunday School: Get Your Flare On

 

Speaking of aperture, I admit that I'm a wide-open shooting junkie.  My aperture is normally set to f/1.4 or f/1.8.  I couldn't figure out why anyone would ever want to shoot at a narrower aperture.  Recently, however, I was inspired by this photo of a starry moon (straight off of the camera, no less!) by the talented Rachel Schell to explore the other extreme of the aperture spectrum (the narrow end), and that is how I finally figured out how to get my flare on.

I saw that Rachel took her photo at the narrowest aperture (f/22) and with a 30 second exposure, and it dawned on me that this made perfect sense.  The narrower the aperture, the longer the exposure you can use, and that's how you get those lovely rays in the form of star-shaped flares, instead of the round blobs of light I normally get when shooting directly at a light source.

This little trick took what would've been a boring night shot and turned it into the bit more dreamy and star-filled photo you see above.  I've been having lots of fun with this, especially since I discovered that the technique works great for taking sun flare shots as well.  If you've never tried this before, I highly recommend it.  My tips for night shots would be to use a tripod (or the ground, as I did in my photo above), to set the camera on timer or use a remote to reduce camera shake, and to play around with different combinations of aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings to get the flare and exposure you want.

So how about you all?  Have any interesting flare you'd like to share?  If you happen to try out this technique for the first time, please share your results with us!

Comments

[Lawyer Mama]

I LOVE flare! I haven't tried it at night, so I'll have to get outside and do it!

But here's some daytime flare:

http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2365573918/in/set-72157604259168524/
http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2364489972/in/set-72157603643073069/
http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2169928706/in/set-72157603638375698/

[Hay]

That is a beautiful photo!!

[Thea]

I am also someone used to shoting wide open. Glad to here I am not the only one:)

I love these rays and this shot-never knew stopping down did this. Thanks so much for the tip.

[Shelli]

Beautiful photos! This is when a point and shot does not come in handy.

[Tracie]

That is a lovely photo. I love the light in night photography. It can be so magical.

I tried playing with a sun flare just yesterday. Here is what happened:

http://tracienolesross.com/sketchbook/?p=125

[Marcie]

Love your photo..and how the night lights take on a life of their own. Can't wait to do a little experimenting myself. Thanks for the helpful hints.

In the meanwhile - here are a few of my daytime lens flares:

http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2008/04/back-lit.html
http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2008/04/morning-after.html
http://marciescudder.blogspot.com/2007/12/moonshine.html

[maya]

I've got two:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23558661@N03/2352742877

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayaeh/2059836623

[camerashymomma]

i love this photo of yours! i'm still toying with it and cant' seem to get away from my love of bokeh and round orbs of light, but your pointy flares are amazing!! the closest i came lately was in late afternoon while my son played.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/2451084286/

[littlepurplecow]

Love this image! Thanks for sharing your process. I've been shooting in f/4, so this post is pushing me to explore the other side of the A. You mention using a tripod or anchoring your camera to a hard surface. This really is critical when shooting this way as it's impossible to hold your hand steady for longer exposures. Looking forward to experimenting with f/22.

[tracey]

thanks for enlightening us! the shot you shared here is pure magic.

[corey (giggletwig)]

Love the photo! And thank you, thank you for sharing this post! I also tend to shoot wide open and tried playing with lens flare a few weeks ago. Although I do love the colors I ended up getting in the photo, I wasn't happy with the big blob of sun: http://www.flickr.com/photos/giggletwig/2423673972/

I couldn't figure out how to fix it (I kept trying to change the angle of my shot). I can't wait to play with this again with your insight!

Thanks again.

[Michelle]

Or you could cheat and use filters to give that starry, sparkly effect, hehe.

But I took one yesterday when I was out shooting some of the flowers in my yard, got a bit of late-afternoon sunshine in there, which can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msadventurenet/2461104232/

[nicky thomas]

hello shutter sisters

i have yet to try it properly at night but here is a dusk one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickythomasphotography/1435193500/

nicky x

[Lucy]

I've played around with this a little lately. My best shot is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucindasummerville/2264405922/

[julie]

Oh I just got done. How fun!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliestew/527066/
julie

[Christina]

First of all, thank you for admitting you usually shoot wide open! I almost always do too, rarely changing from 1.7 on my "nifty fify." But this idea fascinates me and I'm going to gave to give it a try. I love flare and have never known how to achieve it!

[Maya]

Don't have one to share yet but hopefully will soon thanks to your tip! Can't wait to play!

[deb]

This does not fit with the topic today, I don't know how to adjust my aperture yet and I don't have small children living at home, in fact, all I have left at home is a moody, mouthy 17 year old. But today, I took my youngest daughter to see the horses. My youngest moved into a group home four months ago and I miss her still. But I wanted to share this photo of her, just because.

I read here a fair bit, learning new techniques, getting inspiration but never submit posts or photos because of the grown children thing. Except for today. I don't know why today is different but I love this photo of my daughter and wanted to share it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentbeagle/2465880631/

[Sierra]

I love flare! Here is a recent one of the Jefferson Memorial at night that has five bright flares (shot at f22, shutter open for 8 seconds): http://heyitssierra.com/blog/2008/04/30/jefferson-memorial/

I haven't thought to try this with the sun, sounds like a new project!

[Paige]

That's so cool Sarah! I am the same way, always shooting at the smallest possible aperture. Thanks for showing us this!

[Carol]

Wow thanks so much for the advice. After reading your post about flare last night I ran downstairs and took some shots of our street lights. It was just so easy to do. I still have SO much to learn about my camera :)

[Y]

I just love the shot in this post. It's amazing!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyunexpectedcom/2198848240/in/photostream/

[Trude]

That shot is absolutely stunning! And I just have to say, I've never had flare explained so simply and understandably - thank you SO much for sharing! I'm so inspired now! :)

[honestyrain (near.daily.visual)]

i thoroughly love this.

[Tanya]

Wow! I love your picture, and your post definitely inspired me to try out this technique. I took a picture of the lights on the apartment complex across the street and was quite pleased with the starry effect.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanyamills/2475440906/

[Rachel]

wow! I'm honored to find myself mentioned here. I really love your photo and I'm glad I could be of help. :)

[Lois Lane]

Thanks for one of my favorite new tricks. It really does liven up a shot. Thank you!

:)

Here's my daughter (dressed up like a princess as usual) and the spiny sun:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2256/2479250269_ee3eb6f685_b.jpg