The city that never sleeps

[silvinator]

I've just seen these pics of yours Mike. They are excellent! I also like your
4th and 5th shots. It really does make me homesick though. I'd forgotten how pretty Sydney can be at night...

Did you use any kind of filter to make the lights look so nice and almost starlike?

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Silvie, thanks!

No, no filters were used for these shots. I did use a 4-cross star filter on some shots, but in the end the result was too overpowering and distracted from the image, so I ended up choosing shots without the filter.

The star-like effect on the lights is due to the stopped-down aperture (and the shape of it) producing diffraction spikes.