A sunburst through the slats in a building is strikingly highlighted in the monochrome version. An optical phenomenon called diffraction causes the starburst effect; as light passes through a small aperture, it is diffracted (or spread out) across the lens’ aperture blades.
A Shining Light
A “Starburst” of “Sunburst” in photography refers to capturing the sun in your photo where you can actually see the sun’s rays in a star like shape. The sunburst effect is created from pointing your lens at a bright source of light such as the sun. As the light passes through the aperture blades of a lens, it renders the sun’s rays in a star like shape with points of light radiating out from the center.
Here is a monochrome version of a sunburst captured at around sunset on the river front in Washington, North Carolina
Shooting Against the Sun
In this monochrome image light from old windows cast designs on the floor and sills and accentuate bricked walls in a workshop
Light and Shadows in the Workshop
Is the lamp lit by electricity? No, it is the sun behind it that captures light in the lamp in this monochrome image from Washington, North Carolina.
Lighting a Lamp
We end our series of unusual images of shooting against the light creating traditional silhouettes or a combination of black foregrounds and colorful backgrounds. Here is a normal black silhouette – an image of a person, animal, bird, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black.
An unusual composition of shooting against the light with a lighted sky, but creating silhouettes of domed buildings and a lamp post in Munich, Germany. The splashing naturally lighted water in the foreground adds an interesting element to the image.
Shooting against the light at a colorful sunset in Hickory, North Carolina, the trees and rays of the sun appear as silhouettes
Lights captured at blue hour at The Market Street Bridge, officially referred to as the John Ross Bridge, a bascule bridge that spans the Tennessee River between downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Northshore District.
The evening sun lights up the clouds in a magical way and also creating a silhouette of the mountains
Multiple hanging lamps create an attractive lighting environment
A glass with candles filters the light coming through its crystals creating an attractive image
Sun provides lighting to create reflections in a tuba
Designer lamps provide lighting in a hotel
Light is an important part of good images. Will be posting images of light sources for a few days. Here is natural lighting from a rustic window and from a lamp in a building in England.
Tall palms lean right toward the ocean in Santa Monica, California. Why do palm trees lean towards the sea? Palm trees lean to get more light called “phototropism.” The ocean acts as a mirror for light, so there is much more light coming from the sea than from a single building.
Posting random images this week. Eye-catching designs of hanging lights in the lobby of a hotel.
Stalactites, stalagmites and other cave formations fluoresce under the glow of ultraviolet or blacklight at Poole’s Cavern, Derbyshire, England. Fluorescent formations absorb and release energy very quickly. When an ultraviolet, or black light, is directed at these deposits the manganese molecules become activated and we see the calcite release light as a blue-green glow because it is at a different wavelength than the surrounding light sources. Once the light is removed the glow on the rock disappears.
Steel Wool Photography is using long exposures to capture the motion of hot embers flying through the air through the act of spinning burning steel wool. These embers are so hot that they glow very brightly, and as they fly through the air the camera sensor captures the streaks of light created.
Shutter speed is probably the most important aspect of the shot. Capture enough of the movement to show the streaking lights caused by the flying sparks. Choose an aperture that keeps the entire scene in focus. Keeping your ISO low will keep you from blowing out the brightness of the steel wool when it is lit.
Steel wool photography is a type of light painting that uses steel wool that’s been set on fire. As the burning steel wool is spun around on a cord or a string, embers fly and create streaks of light when shot with a camera at slow shutter speeds.
Our Catawba Valley Camera Club in Hickory, NC had a session on photographing burning wool. It was an interesting project and we will be sharing a few images.
The Somnath temple in Gujarat, India is lighted up at night with multiple color themes and is a major attraction for tourists and worshippers.
