Smokey Sunset Sunbursts At Lake Tahoe
One of the key settings for capturing good sunbursts is having a small aperture, as close to f22 as you can get. Both photos below were shot at f22. The smaller the aperture, the better the burst you can get. You can still get sunbursts at wider apertures, they just tend to be smaller rays coming off of the sun.
Another thing that helps get better sunbursts is having the sun partially behind or partially covered by an object. In the first photo below, the sun is partially behind the mountain which helped create a pretty nice sunburst. In the second photo, the sun is still higher in the sky and although it still created a sunburst, it is not quite as nice as the first shot. Clouds in front of the sun can also decrease the effect of sunbursts, as it did in the second shot.
So, what's with that crazy orange color to the sun and reflection of the sunlight on Lake Tahoe? Smoke... There was smoke in the air from a wildfire and that can make sunsets and sunrises incredibly intense with oranges and yellows that seem unreal. Mix that orange with the crazy blues, aquas, and greens of Lake Tahoe, and you can end up with a pretty cool looking photo.
