A setting sun magically lights up the clouds in striking colors
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 light at a colorful sunset in Hickory, North Carolina, the trees and rays of the sun appear as silhouettes

As an experiment of shooting against the sun at a beach in Mandvi, Gujarat, India, it was surprising to see silhouette-like images of animals, people and wooden cabana.

Shot against the sun in the blue sky created silhouette-like portrayal of saguaros.

This image creates, while shooting against the sun of a water fountain, silhouette of the building but highlighting the spurting water and reflections

Shooting against a sunrise viewing from Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park in Maine create somewhat silhouettes of people watching the rising sun

Shooting in winter against a sun creates tree silhouettes in this image

Backlighting goes against conventional wisdom which says ‘Keep the sun behind you.’ A common belief in photography is that your subject should be perfectly lit from the front to capture good photographs. While it may be true in many cases, you should remember that you can move away from the norm and utilize backlighting to create some stunning images. You may be surprised at the results you obtain after doing so. Experimenting, as always, is the key to add to your understanding of the concept.
We will be presenting this week our experimental photography of shooting against the sun. While all the images are not technically silhouettes (a silhouette is a solid, dark image of a subject against a brighter background, generally black), these images are interesting. This image is of church and tower shot against a bright light.

The evening sun lights up the clouds in a magical way and also creating a silhouette of the mountains

While I have a serious medical issue and will be getting treatment at Duke Hospital, I am going to post my captured images as long as I can. I am pleased to do and hope you all enjoy the beauty of the photos. Being positive and happy as life goes on!
Continuing my posting of clouds from before. An opening in dark clouds allows rays of the sun shine on an ocean

Sun provides lighting to create reflections in a tuba

We end our series of images from Sunset Beach, North Carolina as the sun nearly fully rises from behind the clouds as captured from the balcony of our rental property.

Unlike sunrise images from the beach, here are photos from the balcony of a rental property at Sunset Beach, North Carolina. The first image is early dawn as the sun is yet to rise and second one shows the sunrise behind the clouds.


Sunrise at Sunset Beach, North Carolina creates images that nearly place people close to the sun.


The pier at Sunset Beach, North Carolina provides a striking foreground as the sun rises over the ocean.


The sun has set at Sunset Beach, North Carolina and beach-goers walk home silhouetted by the sunset.


Shooting against the sun in Sunset Beach, North Carolina at sunset creates interesting rings to frame the landscape images.


As the sun sets in Bera, Rajasthan, India the gypsy riders end their safari and so do we after our journey to search for leopards. So long India until we visit again!

