You’ve seen it many times before, in magazines, calendars and postcards. A surreal-looking sun sinking below the horizon or sliding behind a mountain peak, streaks of light emanating from the center. Last time I checked, I didn’t think those streaks were natural, so how did the photographer do this?

You might be thinking a fancy filter is required to get this effect, and yes, there are actual star filters you can buy. You could also use Photoshop with similar results. But why bother, when all you really need to do is adjust the aperture setting on your camera.

Photo stats: f/20, ISO 200, 1/250 sec

First, a quick definition of aperture:

The aperture of a lens is the diameter of the lens opening and is usually controlled by an iris. The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light reaches the film / image sensor.Aperture is expressed as F-stop, e.g. F2.8 or f/2.8. The smaller the F-stop number (or f/value), the larger the lens opening (aperture).

You can read more about aperture HERE

The secret to getting the star effect is to adjust your aperture to the largest F-stop possible. In the case of the backcountry skiing photo above, I shot this at F/20. The sea kayaking picture below was shot at F/16. I wouldn’t go much lower than f/16 or the star effect begins to fade. f/18 – f/22 seems to work best. (Although you will continue to get the effect above f/22, generally speaking, the quality of the image will begin to deteriorate.)

This sea kayaking photo was shot at f/16, ISO 200 1/320 sec

If you have a digital point & shoot camera, attaining the star effect may be a challenge as most P&S cameras don’t allow you to adjust the aperture to the necessary level.

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I will admit I’m a bit of a brat when it comes to my idea of what an ‘adventure’ is. Despite living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and having the mighty Pacific ocean on one side, towering mountains on the other and pristine lakes in between, I often find myself reaching for distance peaks I cannot see, day-dreaming about mountain bike trails and epic bike tours I’ve only read about. Unfortunately, reaching these far-off destinations has become a bit more financially straining with a gas-guzzling pickup. So, as I’m forced to entertain myself and look locally for activities (and work with the fiancee on having one car), I’m slowly beginning to appreciate that an adventure doesn’t have to mean a month-long solo bike tour in Chile (although…) but instead it can be as simple as dropping the sea kayak in the water for a paddle in Puget Sound, or joining up with a group of friends for a nearby mountain biking ride.

So I stopped my whining, calculated my carbon footprint (ok, maybe not) for a local paddle and mountain bike ride versus driving out to central Washington and basked in the glory of a Seattle summer weekend.

First up, a circumnavigation paddle of Blake Island. With the put-in less than a mile from our house here in West Seattle, my goal was visible before I even started. While the island sits only a couple miles off-shore, you have to pass a busy shipping lane in the process, but that only adds to the adventure! Every time I slide the sea kayak into the water and push away from the beach, I ask myself why I don’t do more paddling. It’s such a unique way of seeing the lay of the land (or water) that few get to experience.

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The next day Jeannine and I had planned a hike up Mt Si, something neither of us had ever done despite living in Seattle for over eight years. Instead we opted to join a group of folks who were heading down to mountain bike the Sun Top trail. Only 90 minutes away from Seattle, the trail sits in a web of spectacular mountain biking not too far from the Crystal Mountain ski area. Many of the trails offer stunning views of The Mountain, or Mt Rainier. Fortunately for us, it was one of those truly perfect northwest summer days. Crystal clear sky, perfect temps…and of course an awesome ride.

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