Shooting star trails with film

[Grandpa Ron]

This is a bit of a re-post from the Beginners forum.

I am talking about aiming the camera at the North Star (Polaris) after sunset, and leaving the shutter open until just before sunrise. Hence, photographing the stars as they rotate through the night.

I did receive some advise for trying to use multiple exposer digital shots and post processing but that does not seem too practical for me.

I have a couple of nice 35 mm SLRs I can try but question is do you use a large aperture (f2.8) or a medium aperture (f8.0). I plan to use ISO 200 B&W film.

I know I need the darkest sky possible or else the sky glow will wash out the back ground, but what aperture should I use?

 

[jcdeboever]

I have always wanted to get well versed in this type of photography but my day job makes it difficult. However, I did study up on it and I found that f5.6 to f8 works the best. I prefer f8 at infinity focus. It really takes experiments to see the look your after. I have used TriX at box speed 400, and I assume any film would work. Fujifilm Acros 100 was nice as well. I have shot maybe a half dozen frames so I am no expert... I did 2 frames at f5.6, 2 at f8, and 2 at f16. The f16 didn't expose well as I recall, f8 was the sweet spot for me.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Thanks jcd that gives me a starting point. now all I need is some clear skies.