lights "starring" at night

[ericande]

I took this photo a few nights ago.

My question is about the bright light to the right. I know with long exposures at large apertures, lights bloom and they star with small exposures. Is there anything you can do with long exposures to make lights be simply crisp and bright?

Oh, and I know this photo sucks otherwise hehe. I shot it at 1600 and had to brighten it so it's noisy.

 

[Garbz]

The lens elements form their own virtual star filter. This happens at various aperatures and changes from lens to lens. Try playing with different aperatures, and count yourself lucky, some people buy star filters exactly for that effect

 

[Flash Harry]

exposing correctly for the light will do it, only the rest of the shot will then be very dark, with night shots its a compromise for best overall exposure and lower iso,s with longer exposure get the best results but depending on the camera noise can be a problem. Another trial n error approach I'm afraid. H

 

[willpomroy]

I'd have to go with the guy's above opinions. There seems to be no rule to determine when this happens, at least not when I make photographs at night. Personally, I like it, I think it adds something to the shot. Don't be so quick to slate your own shot! I actually really like the general light you've achieved.

 

[THORHAMMER]

im pretty sure its completely predictable and controllable effect.

smaller aperature , less star...... bigger aperture, more star

the star is actually representation of the blades on your lens diaphram

the amount of points divided in half, or some ungodly equation like that

should tell you how many blades you have...

if you dont want it, go to a larger aperature. but keep in mind the larger

your aperature the less OF your picture will be in focus...

 

[nevilleb]

I always thought that the star efect will be most pronounced at smaller apertures (large f stop values). And yes, I confirmed this by checking the exif in your image. You've shot this at f22 (a very small aperture). Hence the star effect.

Another spin off of using a small aperture has been a long exposure (13 seconds). That, coupled with the high iso (1600) has resulted in considerable noise in the image, and I think I see some banding too.

nevilleb

 

[Flash Harry]

best night photography will be at lower iso = ie., 100-200 with a longer exposure also pick a scene which has a lot of lights in it, then correctly expose, underexposure causes the star effect as I stated earlier.