Eastbound on Cold Spring

As I was eastbound on Cold Spring Trail — just after sunrise — I noticed the Sun had managed to peek through the forest canopy, so I stopped and grabbed a "quick" shot before it disappeared. 

Just in case you're new to photography and don't know…the way to get a sunstar (like this one) is to close the aperture down to it's smallest setting (or close to it) and hope for the best.  In that you've got the lens closed down to such a tiny hole, you have to adjust the shutter speed to allow the "proper" amount of light in.  (You can crank up the ISO, of course, but that is usually frowned upon in a scenic.)  Anyway, with such a long shutter speed, you have to worry about the wind blowing and the Sun moving.  In other words, this is a fleeting moment and it's not as easy to catch as you might think it is.

P.S. There's a reason I always write out the exposure data.

Nikon D7200 — Nikon 18-300mm F6.3 ED VR

32mm

F25@8 seconds (did you see the blurry leaves?)

ISO 400  (ISO 100 would have required a ___ second exposure?) (32)

Polarizer (it takes the shine off leaves and allows the green to show)

White Balance on Flash (the light is "cool" in this much shade so I use a "warm" WB)

ROD_4423.JPG (yes, I shoot JPEGs, not RAW)

©Don Brown 2023