Stary Stary Night

uberben · Oct 22, 2006

I tried a different way of doing these kind of photos. This time I took 4 photos all close to the same exposure to get rid of the cruddy noise my 300d's sensor was kicking out on exposures over 30 minutes. I then overlayed them in PS and tweaked the levels to bring out the contrast. Not all that happy with the small gaps in the trails from different exposures when I was slow on one of them and the coloring is off on the trials as well. Thats more of a post processing error then the cameras fault. Better luck next time around. Shot with a tokina 12-24 at the wide end on a 300d body. I ended up cropping a lot of the bottom since I didn't have the camera aimed where I wanted.....Next time i'll bring a stronger flashlight.

I just got a new 20d two weeks ago and i'm heading up north again next weekend to do some star trails with the better camera.

I think the exif is something like
Focal length: 12.0mm
Exposure time: 3375
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO equiv.: 100

This one is from awhile ago. Just your standard northstar rotation.
Focal length: 28.0mm
Exposure time: 746.000 s
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv.: 100

zombiekilla · Oct 23, 2006

wow! Id really love to try somethig like that but Im not sure my camera could do it

rebelnotarget · Oct 23, 2006

very cool. You osviously have lots of patience to wait for those exposures.

JTHphoto · Oct 23, 2006

good idea using multiple exposures to cut down on the noise. i have pretty much given up on long exposures like this with my 20D, just too much noise. These turned out pretty good though, can't wait to see the next ones... :thumbup:

uberben · Oct 23, 2006

Thanks for the comments. I think I spend more time taking photos at night then during the day now that the early winter nights are on the doorstep.

lostprophet · Oct 24, 2006

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWWWWWW WOW

that 1st shot is one of the best star trails I've ever seen

ClarkKent · Oct 24, 2006

Thats absolutely amazing work. It inspires me to go out and try the same thing. If i do I will post. Jaw dropping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pursuer · Oct 24, 2006

Great attempts! I can't wait to see the shots from the 20D.

surfingfireman · Oct 24, 2006

That first pic is great, despite the issues you seem to have with it. Is that a shooting star I see making a line between the trees?

I keep one film SLR in my artillery, not only as a back up for if my DSLR goes down, but for any long exposures I want to try.

Keep up the good work.

uberben · Oct 24, 2006

I am pretty sure that is a shooting star between the trees....I do have fully mechanical Film SLR from the 60's that I use to shoot really long exposures (5+hrs) but I am still getting the hang of that and need to scan in some of the really good ones.

Thanks for the positive comments though. I can't wait to get out this weekend and set up a couple camera's for more stars. Lets hope for a clear night OR a really creepy october sky like this one from last year

pursuer · Oct 24, 2006

Wow! that is an amazing image.

That streak in the first image looks like it is probably a satellite.

SpaceNut · Oct 24, 2006

Awesome & breath taking!! I can't make up mind as to which is my favorite. I'll have to try taking pictures like this when time permits. Thanks for sharing.