Myosis in Photography: Capture the Perfect Shot
Ever seen bright points of light turn into crisp starbursts in a photo and wondered how photographers do that? That effect often comes from using myosis techniques — basically dialing down the aperture so bright points become defined stars and the whole scene gets sharper. It's a simple trick once you know the settings and trade-offs.
This page collects practical tips and short how-tos so you can try myosis shots today, whether you're shooting landscapes, city nights, or sunlit scenes.
Practical settings to try
Start with a small aperture. Try f/11 to f/22 for clear starbursts. Pick a low ISO (100–400) to keep noise down, and use a tripod if shutter speed drops below 1/60s. Example setups that work well:
- Sunny landscape: f/16, ISO 100, shutter speed set by light (use tripod if needed).
- City night with streetlights: f/11, ISO 200–400, adjust shutter for exposure.
- Sunrise or sunset with the sun peeking through trees: f/16–f/22, ISO 100, bracket exposures to protect highlights.
Watch out for diffraction at very small apertures (f/22 and smaller on some lenses). Diffraction softens fine detail, so test your lens to find the sweet spot — often f/11–f/16 gives the best balance of sharpness and star effect.
Shooting tips that actually help
Position the light. Starbursts need a bright, small light source — sun edges, street lamps, or reflections on water. Place the light partially behind an object (like a tree or building edge) to get cleaner rays and avoid blown highlights.
Use a wide-angle lens. Wider lenses emphasize star rays more and keep foreground and background sharp. Close down the aperture and focus about a third into the scene for deep depth of field.
Stabilize and bracket. Tripods keep long exposures clean. Bracketing gives you options to blend exposures later, which helps with scenes that have bright points and deep shadows.
Mind lens flare and cleanliness. A dirty or cheap filter can smear starbursts into blobs. Remove or use high-quality filters, and try different angles to reduce unwanted flares.
If you want shallow background blur, don’t use myosis — open your aperture instead. Myosis is great for crisp, detailed scenes and dramatic starbursts but not for portraits where soft backgrounds matter.
Finish by checking your histogram and zooming in to verify sharpness. Slight adjustments to focus, aperture, or composition can turn a good starburst into a great one.
Want a full guide with examples and step-by-step shots? Check the post "Myosis in Photography: How to Capture the Perfect Shot" in this category for sample images and settings you can copy on your next shoot.
