My first try at Star Trails - Vilano Beach, FL

mattferrell · Mar 30, 2013

D200. 100 photos stacked. 30 sec exposure on each. f/3.5 at ISO 500

Last night I was roaming Vilano Beach, FL and decided to try some star trails. There was some light pollution from nearby city, and it was almost a full moon, so conditions could of been better. But I'd been wanting to try some star trails for awhile, so I gave it a go. Thanks to posters here for tips I've read about it. Was a decent first go.

The foreground subject isn't that interesting, but I was on a beach, so that was the only thing I could see to use. There's also an old fort and a lighthouse down the road from here though. Now that I've tried it out, next time I will go have one of those in the shot instead of a boring old sign.

I used a D200, at f/3.5 and had the camera set to take 100 photos, each 30 second exposures at ISO 500 (so, took about 50 minutes). Then back home I manually layered each photo on top of the other and blended each layer (lighten) into one image. I did it manually because I don't have internet at the moment on computer to download a program to do it for me (am on phone now).

Anyway, I like it for a first try. Minus the dull sign. Now that I have the hang of it, next time I will go on a new moon, away from city lights more, and with a more interesting foreground subject. Thanks to all the tips people have posted here for star trails!

And here's another shot from last night of beach houses with the city lights behind. 30 second exposure at ISO 400

PropilotBW · Mar 30, 2013

Your stars on the second shot have some wobble to them. Did you use the self timer or remote? And VR/IS off?

DiskoJoe · Mar 30, 2013

Not bad. A little noisy but nothing terrible. Good first go. I've always wanted to try this but have never got around to it.

thereyougo! · Mar 30, 2013

PropilotBW said:
Your stars on the second shot have some wobble to them. Did you use the self timer or remote? And VR/IS off?

The houses look sharp to me, so I don't think there is any movement except for the Earth and the stars. There will be movement in the starts even on a 30 sec exposure.