Shoot for the Star...bursts!

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. I hope the week has been gentle to all.

How are the bubbles coming? Are they taking form, or are you stuck? Have no fear; your vision can carry the day. Just stop to see the light and you’ll come up with a winner.

Jennifer, who’s blog can be found here, liked a link the other day that I found very interesting. Click it Up a Notch is a great source for learning photography. The blog has some great tips for beginners and anyone looking to improve their images, and is backed up with some wonderful photos. Check it out!

The post she liked and I read was 5 Tips for Shooting Christmas Lights. Nice post, nice pics, cool blog. I decided to do a post about starbursts. They make for some awesome additions to a good composition.

The first thing to understand about starbursts is that they are caused by light diffraction. The light bends as it passes the blades in your diaphragm, which changes the way the light hits your sensor. Light that is brighter than the surrounding areas tends to streak as it passes over the blades, creating starbursts. We all love to see some of them in our images, especially nighttime and Christmas shots. The actual rays or spikes in the starburst are caused by light passing over the blades where 2 of them come together. The more blades you have the more rays you’ll get. The funny thing is that even numbers of blades cause the number of rays to match the number of blades. In a lens with an odd number of blades, the number of rays is actually twice the number of blades. I’m not a physicist, so I can’t explain it. You can get decent starbursts even at apertures like f/8 or f/11 depending on your focal length. Most people tend to shoot for them at f/22 and sometimes higher. The shorter the focal length you use, the smaller the aperture is at the same f/stop, and the more likely you are to get good ones, at least that’s the theory.

Another important thing to remember, if you want to print your photos at 8x10 or larger, is that over about f/16 on an APS-C sensor you start losing sharpness in the details. It’s a trade off, so think about how you wish to present your pic.

Here are some photos that show the effect and the difference in blade count between 2 lenses.


ISO 100, f/16, 30 seconds, 200mm
If you count the rays on the large light on the bridge, you'll see this lens had 9 blades. This shot and the next one were taken in Wurzburg with an old 300D from Canon.


ISO 100, f/22, 30 seconds, 165mm
You can see a slight drop-off in sharpness, but more pronounce rays.


ISO 100, f/16, 10 seconds, 18mm
Notice 6 rays emanating from the bulbs. The lens had 6 blades to the diaphragm.


ISO 100, f/8, 20 seconds, 55mm
The starbusts here are minimal, and slightly soft. At a shorter focal length, perhaps something better might have appeared. This was taken with an old Canon 300d in Hohenfels, as was the previous photo.

There is another way to get starbursts. You can buy filters for your lens. You can choose from any number of rays and they apply the effect equally to all lights. That takes the fun out of it, but they could come in handy.

Here in Hohenfels, and in the towns around us, there are so many places that light up a tree or wreaths. Get out there and you'll find something to shoot for the starbursts! You don't even have to leave your house during this time of year! Try it on your tree, you'll see some cool things happen.

Remember to cast your vote for next week’s theme. I hope to see more than the 4 votes we have right now. 19 Volks like us on Facebook, I hope 19 will vote! Are you thinking of your bubbles? I hope to get something in if time allows me to shoot today! Remember to get your pics posted at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too!

A Morning Moment

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. I hope everyone is having a great week. Hohenfels can be beautiful this time of year, so keep your eyes open for photo ops.

Today’s post is featuring photos submitted for last week’s theme. Only one was submitted. That was by Jennifer O. I'm sorry I didn't get this up yesterday, but here you go.



The photo was an interesting thought. I wish I had thought of it! Nice idea, capturing the motion and the never-ending madness that is our day-to-day morning rush. The composition is good and the lighting is there. I like the way there is some light in the sky, letting you know it’s almost light out and makes the nice colors of the trees pops out at you. The diagonal track of the sign makes it seem like there was speed going on here and adds a nice touch. That may be an upcoming theme, speed or rush, what do you think?

The one thing I would suggest for a shot of this type is to use your zoom instead of actually driving. By using your zoom and staying stationary, you can read the words in the sign and have a sense of warp speed motion. A long exposure, focused sharply on the sign would have made an extra bit of niceness to a good photo. The secret for that is using a slow shutter speed, and maintaining your focal length for about half the exposure and zooming in, or out, over the remaining half. The big thing about doing it that way is the safety factor. Using the remote was probably safer than some folks I’ve seen, shooting out their windows while they drive by something nice!

Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your really cool photo and your great idea with the rest of here in Hohenfels. Thanks also for spreading the word and the link. I can’t wait to see what you and everyone else comes up with for this week’s theme, bubbles of light.

Remember to cast your vote for next week’s theme. Are you thinking of your bubbles? Remember to get your pics posted at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too!

Tiny or Big, it's Bubbles!

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Today is definitely a Monday; if ever there were one, this would be it. Hohenfels, complete with cold, rain, sun, hail, and whatever else came our way. Don't worry, though, Christmas will soon be here in our little Hohenfels area, and all the joys that come with it!

Well, this week one person submitted for the theme. Thanks to Jennifer for your submission, I’ll try to get it up here tomorrow after discussing it with her. Then, there is the news that the 6 votes are counted. Our theme for the week will be Bubbles (... Of Light, DUH!) This is more advanced than last week’s; so let’s get this ball rolling.

This one may make you think, it may make you scream, or it may make you rise to the challenge and create something magical. Of course, it may make you do all 3! A bubble of light? What is it? What does it do, and what’s it look like? How am I supposed to do this without any knowledge of this bubble thing, and if this one bursts and ruins the economy, who gets the blame?

Relax; it’s nothing like that. Creating a bubble of light is a trick that can be seen by looking back at our post on chiaroscuro, which can be found here. The biggest secret is that light moves and bounces according to your light source. One of the easiest ways to create the bubble for this week’s theme is to use off camera flash and a semi-translucent half dome. The effect can be even more apparent with subjects cloaked in dark and shrouded in light, with nice transition between the two. Of course, it’s not really like a bubble, but presents the illusion of one.

By examining the image from that post, you can see how it seems as if the ladies are surrounding a glowing orb. By knowing how and where light falls, Van Honthorst was able to create the magical lighting in his image. It seems as if the matchmaker is closer than the older ladies are, almost like she’s showing a treasured globe. The lighting here, and the resulting bubble, come from the shape of the candle flame. Another type is to make it seem as if your subject is encased in a bubble of light, almost like a snow globe. Examine some rounded shapes, balls, bubbles, footballs, and other items to see how the light falls on them. Knowing that can help you figure out how the light radiates from them, and what kind of bubble you might expect.

For those without a flash or the ability to trigger it remotely, you can use lamps of any kind, LED flashlights, anything that will create the type of bubble you want to make. The important thing to remember is the shape of your light source and how the light will radiate from it. Flash or other types of light will produce almost identical results in that department. You can also work some more of this type of magic with multiple lights, and colored gels. When you shoot in B&W, the color of your light can be changed, and a matching filter added to increase the effect even more. The sharper your transition to dark from light at the very edges, the more abrupt and sharp your bubble will appear. Keep that in mind.

If I get some time this week, I will try to make an example image, but I probably won’t have much time. The new poll for next week’s theme is up, it expires at midnight on Sunday night. Here's hoping we get at least 19 votes this time around! Get your votes in, vote early, and let’s bring volks into this theme.

Tonight, take the time to check out some spheres, globes, bubbles, and balls. Take a little time to visualize your own shot; even it’s an exact copy of Van Honthorst’s painting. Write down some ideas. Then during the week, refine your visions and your notes. Once you’re ready and your vision is fully fleshed out, set up your scene, blow your bubble, and get the pics posted at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting on both Facebook and here is always appreciated, too!

The One That Got Away

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Today’s just going to be a thought for you. Something to mull over and think about when you’re going out to shoot. It’s called attention to detail. It’s something you need to practice, even when you’re visualizing your shot!

Yesterday was a long day! After work, I went over to the community tree lighting with the daughter, for her it was to see Santa, for me it was to take pics! Take pics I did, a whole lot! After getting a few shots, including some that couldn’t be redone, I discovered my IS was turned off on the lens I was using. That meant the pics I had shot at 1/30 were going to be slightly soft in the focus, and that also meant I was feeling a little down! After writing about IS in a previous post about lenses, I should have known better. D’OH!

Anyway, after kicking myself, and turning the IS back on, I went on to get some decent shots. After seeing Santa and some of our wonderful friends, we went to a little party for a friend’s birthday, and I shot a handful of keepers. Another thing I had forgotten was to bring the tripods and lighting mods, which meant more effort to get the light right, but the shots were worth it.

The point is, check your equipment before turning it on. Check it before you even begin thinking about using it. Check it as part of your visualizing; by seeing yourself take the actions to make your vision reality, you’re rehearsing the steps you need to succeed. It will make your pictures better and save you the shame of losing the one that didn’t get away until you snipped the line!

O.K., enough of that mourning the lost shots, remember to get your votes in for next week’s theme. We have a 4-way tie right now, and that means it’s my choice if we end the week that way! This week our theme is “Morning Moments.” I hope to see everyone participating! Get shooting and start posting at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting here is always welcome, too!

Ride Along Shot- Avoiding the Cold

Greetings, Hohenfels, welcome to Hohenfels Volks, THE place for our place. I hope everyone is having a great week and looking forward to something great this weekend.

For our ride along today, I thought we’d stay in lovely Hohenfels. In fact, it’s so cold and gloomy; I thought we’d stay inside. Let’s go to the living room and get started.

This is my first Christmas photo of the season. There’ll be many more, I’m sure, but getting this one set up and in the camera is always exciting. Last year, it was a bottle of wine with a glass and the tree.


ISO 100, f/4.5, 15 Seconds, 53mm, 3000K
Merry Christmas!

Come Christmas season, I love to take creative shots that illustrate this time of year. I visualized this shot all day while cruising Nuernberg's Christkindlmarkt. Getting home, I rushed into the house to get the shot set up and going. Of course, this kind of shot requires shooting on a tripod with IS turned off. That means using a remote trigger. I like using a remote trigger cable, some folks prefer wireless. Locking up the mirror allowed for that little bit of extra sharpness in the glass and the decorations surrounding the candleholder. Focus was on the glass to minimize the DOF between tree and candle. Placing the candle holder in sharp focus at or near an intersection of thirds isolates it and makes it the obvious center of interest, while allowing the eye to wander through the tree and memories of long ago Christmases.

This shot proved more difficult than first glance implies. I’ll be trying this one a few more times to get it perfect, but I really enjoy the way it turned out. It just says “Merry Christmas!”

After several failed attempts using multiple flashes to light the tree some and the glass, I went with a longer exposure and used just one flash. After getting the exposure started, I manually fired the flash at 1/128th power with the head zoomed in to 110mm. The flash comes in from camera left at about 45 degrees to the candleholder. The second pop of the flash at the same level was again camera right, zoomed to 50mm almost dead at the tree. The third and final pop, again at 1/128th and 110mm zoom, was aimed at the platter and decorations around the candleholder from camera right.

By setting the flash at minimum power and adjusting the zoom, I was able to bring out the green of the tree, the colors of the decoration, and use the longer focal length with a wide aperture to create some nice boke, or blur, behind the glass. It also highlighted the edges of the glass, and shows the nice, almost home spun, texture of the candle glass. It also allowed some detail in the decorations around the base of the candle.

Shooting at 15 seconds allowed me to manually zoom, aim, and pop the flash. That brought the whole thing together, bringing out detail while allowing a warm winter night feel to the image. The highlights in the image were slightly overexposed to allow for detail in the shadows, and it was darkened during conversion from RAW in Canon Digital Photo Pro software. I lowered the color temperature to about 3000K to bring out the green in the tree and hint at the blue in the platter holding the decorations and candleholder.

The candleholder was one that Mrs. Hohenfels-Volks picked up at a local market. The little things you can pick up at Moebelhof and other such places can really add some flavor to your photos. I’ll definitely try this shot again, perhaps with a snoot over the flash and some black cards to darken the highlights in the glass, perhaps giving a more old timey feel to it.


Same settings as above image
Here’s another version with the color temperature raised to about 3500K. Adding in that little bit of red makes it feel almost as if a fireplace is blazing somewhere in the room.

Now on to other things, remember to get your votes in for next week’s theme. We have a 3-way tie right now, and that means it’s my choice if we end the week that way! This week our theme is “Morning Moments.” I hope to see everyone participating! Get shooting and start posting at the Hohenfels Volks Facebook page. Of course, commenting here is always welcome, too!