Solar lens flare

[kolibri]

Because sometimes you have no choice but to shoot into the sun-

These two pictures have different flare shapes, in the the first the rays are distinct and spread apart, in the second, there is an additional diffraction? color fringe, and the rays are less distinct. Is the difference due to the small change of focal length, or the placement within the frame? I probably had a UV filter on the lens. (These are SOOC- just with an auto-levels applied- converter default-for my final versions I won't push the land so much) I like the first flare better, and I'd like to know how much control I have over the shape of it. Also, aesthetically, how much does it distract from the photo that the first flare is cut off?

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/1136655106_y9hMJ-M.jpg
Aperture Value : F23
Exposure Bias Value : 0 EV
Exposure Mode : Manual
Exposure Program : Manual
Exposure Time : 1/1600
Flash : 16
Focal Length : 25.0 mm
ISOSpeedRating : 320
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Scene Capture Type : Standard
Shutter Speed Value : 1/1579 s
White Balance : Manual

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/1136655107_fAcwG-M.jpg
Aperture Value : F23
Exposure Bias Value : 0 EV
Exposure Mode : Manual
Exposure Program : Manual
Exposure Time : 1/1600
Flash : 16
Focal Length : 20.0 mm
ISOSpeedRating : 320
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Scene Capture Type : Standard
Shutter Speed Value : 1/1579 s
White Balance : Manual

[pathfinder]

Since all your exposure settings are exactly the same ( except focal length ) , I would suggest that it is simply a matter of focal length for that lens. I don't think the placement in the frame is that significant to final appearance. If you are using an UV filter, position in the frame might cause some of the variation. If you want to shoot sun stars, I would suggest leaving off any filters.

Small apertures, especially with short focal length lenses, ( 24mm or less ) frequently result in suns stars. Lots of us call them Muench stars, as Marc teaches that technique. Marc teaches to hide the sun behind a shadow of a tree limb, building etc, as the quality of the star can be better of only a small area of the sun is rendered, rather than the whole sun which tends to give a more blurry, clubbed appearing result.

The result is usually more attractive with prime lenses too, than zooms, since primes usually have fewer elements, and fewer reflecting,refracting surfaces, and hence cleaner, brighter images. Therre are whole threads of sunstars in the Landscape forum I believe.

Here is one of mine, shot at f22 with a 24mm T&S

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Travel/Wales-England-and-Isle-of-Mull/Mull-seashore-with-sunstar/308506276_jSy3N-XL.jpg








Here is one with a 21m Zeiss Distagon - probably near f8, but it does not record in the exif data, so that is a guess on aperture on my part, but the appearance of the star does not look like it was shot at f16 or smaller, and I usually use it near f8-11

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Travel/Shootout-2008-Backroads-of/Sunstar-Turret-Arch-21mm-Zeiss/401088866_wbbcP-XL.jpg




Merry Christmas!

[kolibri]

Small apertures, especially with short focal length lenses, ( 24mm or less ) frequently result in suns stars. Lots of us call them Muench stars, as Marc teaches that technique. Marc teaches to hide the sun behind a shadow of a tree limb, building etc, as the quality of the star can be better of only a small area of the sun is rendered, rather than the whole sun which tends to give a more blurry, clubbed appearing result.


Yeah, I knew that the shot straight into the sun would be crappy, so I decided to embrace it and go for the sun star flare. I really wanted a shot of the reservoir, I may never get back there to get a better shot. I think if I play with the image a little I should be able to emphasize the reflection on the water and get something out of this shot. There wasn't anything to hide the sun behind, besides, where I was, it would probably have blocked the reservoir too. I didn't know about the flare quality difference between prime and zoom lenses, I thought it was primarily dependent on the aperture shape. I'll have to play around with that, I have a wide angle prime I can use.

This was the view in the other direction- much better lighting.
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/1137136428_nMeJf-M.jpg

[pathfinder]

Sometimes you can just catch the sun as it begins to appear around the edge of a cloud too.