Star Trail's

[PhillyPhoton]

Maybe I missed something because of my inexperience, but how will you remove the tape from the shutter without disturbing the camera and, thus, the image? Edit: Maybe you are taping the shutter on the cable release...missed that.

I thought of that earlier,so i tried it,but if i turn off the camera it saves without disturbing the image. and the images arent bad from earlier.

Im using a Nd8 filter too,i thought about this too.
and like i said,its an experiment for me just now,so i'll use noise reduction at a later time

Last time I did this years ago, using a 35mm set on bulb, was in the middle of the winter and when I realeased the shutter it was frozen, so to keep the pic I put the lens cap on brought the camera inside and 15 minutes later "click" and I was good to go, not sure if this would work with a digital, but plan on getting in the game soon

 

[Trever1t]

My apologies to the OP for taking this off-topic a bit...

That said, behind the camera is the Santa Clara Valley and the sun set maybe 15 minutes earlier behind a mountain. Here is the opposite view 15 minutes prior to shooting the observatory.


Sunset by the Bay by Trever1t, on Flickr

Again, my apolgies to the OP.

 

[Bram]

That's wicked. Thanks alot for sharing.

 

[Alistair]

I just got some good ND filters, so maybe I'll try to take a stab at it tonight if it's clear. It's been getting better around here, so I can't complain and a descent tripod. If I can stay up that is, I will post results and this is the motivation I've been needing for awhile to try this.

 

[John Mc]

Last time I did this years ago, using a 35mm set on bulb, was in the middle of the winter and when I realeased the shutter it was frozen, so to keep the pic I put the lens cap on brought the camera inside and 15 minutes later "click" and I was good to go, not sure if this would work with a digital, but plan on getting in the game soon

Yeah,its not too cold here,so im hoping i'll be fine,but note taken on the lens cap!

 

[Bram]

Yeah I need clear skies, I would be using my bakyard so I can just chill there but I'm afraid with the 15 minute exposure that the street lights would leak into my backyard, I have no neighbors behind me so.

 

[John Mc]

My taping down the shutter button didnt work.Failed badly,but theres some hope for the two images that worked for like,5 minutes.

But ive got a Canon 500D, Which has a 2.5 phono jack. i have an old handsfree kit i was going to rig to work as a release cable. When i Plugged it in, Snap! the shutter opened, i thought it was an error,so did it again,and it worked. My neighbours are looking out there window at me,and living in a flat,ive decided that leaving the camera in the back at night is bad,so im going to wait till about 10Gmt and head out and play so i shall post up soon

 

[Bram]

Wicked John can't wait!

 

[John Mc]

Ahh,your expecting too much, but we'll see how it work's

 

[robertwsimpson]

I got a remote for $20. Also, I have software that I can run on my netbook that will do a bulb exposure, or I can set it for any length of time. There are other options besides jerry rigging your setup.

I did this one at f/8 ISO160 and 419 seconds

Star Trails I by robertwsimpson, on Flickr

my wife and I walked down the fairway with strobes and lit the trees. Also, the sun was setting... that's why the sky is lit. If you go for f/16, you're going to get extremely dim trails, or maybe nothing at all. Try it with my settings and see how it goes... obviously, you'll want to do a longer exposure. I was just getting impatient.

 

[robertwsimpson]

by the way, putting an apostrophe "s" on the end of words doesn't make them pleural. It makes them possessive. It's "Star Trails," not "Star Trail's."

 

[John Mc]

I'm abit iliterate (how ever it's spelled) Some people on this Forum have a problem with it, Im sorry for it

Regarding My cheap method,yeah,it does the job, im abit poor at the moment to purchase a cable release and ive not got a laptop. It'll do for a week or two till i order one

Mines did come out rather faint,but its raining now, so im going to try again tomorrow

 

[amateuraperture]

This site is a great star trails reference: How To Photograph Star Trails - Photography by James Vernacotola

 

[jcrob33]

Weird, I thought you could just keep your Shutter open for like 20 minutes. But that site says it could ruin your camera.

Not worth the risk...

 

[John Mc]

This site is a great star trails reference: How To Photograph Star Trails - Photography by James Vernacotola

Thanks,I'll take a look at it in abit,skiming through and ive notice a few good tips