Golden Spikes, Kofa Mountain Range, AZ

Don’t be fooled!!! They are so so pretty to look at but damn it hurts like !@#$ when you brush yourself against one. This place is called Kofa Mountains. It is a hidden gem tucked miles away from civilization and home of the most feared and hated cacti in the southwestern desert, the jumping cholla (pronounced as choy-a). And yuuuup! had a first hand experience with cholla-pain. it’s like a road down memory lane while I was processing this image.

My most favourite location in our two week trip to US last year. Inspired by Peter James Coskun Photography, big thanks to his generosity in sharing the how-to’s of this place. It’s also the place where we met Dustin Wong shooting by himself! Ha! What an amazing trip!

Sunstar? Sunburst? Do you like it? Me, I really love shooting sunstars! i believe it add’s that “pop” on an image. There’s a technique for you to easily nail one. If you want a clean, un-messy and no flare sunstar, then get rid of filters and make sure that the front lens is free from dust!

For a sharper and more distinct hands of the sunstar, go for f22, hide part of the sun on any edge then opt for 1-2 secs shutter. That’s it! Easy right? Take it to the next level by exposing multiple shots (sunstar included) from brightest to darkest so that you get the entire dynamic range of the scene. And for your last shot, place a finger in front of the lens (covering the sun) to get a well balanced, properly exposed, without any flare foreground. Then blend everything in processing. For this image I had 5 exposures for the background and 1 exposure for the foreground!
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