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