Star Trails

[FilmDood]

OK, so tonight, I'm taking my third shot at doing star trail photography.
The first time I did it, the class D-76 was bad, due to it sitting there for a month without use, so my film didn't come out at all.

The second time, I was dumb enough to think shooting with a full moon would be perfectly fine, but the moon's light killed all the stars in my shot.

The moon tonight is at a quarter phase, so I'm hoping that it'll be fine. From my area, as well, the moon hasn't been too bright, almost having a dull yellow look.

There are zero clouds, and currently my camera is sitting outside in a Ziploc bag to avoid any potential fogging.

I just have some concerns.
1. I feel like even with my aperture open all the way, I won't capture the stars properly. The largest my camera's aperture can get on manual is to f/4. I can set it down to somewhere in between f/2-f/3 on a different setting, but the shutter speed is fixed to what aperture you use, so bulb won't be an option. Will my f/4 be good enough for a night like this?

2. I used 100 speed film my second time shooting star trails, yet I got back nothing, which I still think was because of the full moon. Should this film be fine?

3. Time. I want to take range of 5-30 minute exposures, then one hour, two hours and then whatever time from the end of the two hour exposure to either when I wake up, or the camera battery dies. Will I have to worry about any dew/fog with the exposure I'll be taking as I sleep? Or will having my camera and lens sitting in the bag outside right now keep it pretty much free from and dew?

The weather tonight is pretty dry, we just got out of a rough storm and tomorrow is expecting no clouds at all. Should I worry about moisture? Florida is humid in general, but, I'm still not sure.

 

[molested_cow]

Hmmm.... I've never had such a hard time trying to get star trails. It's always been pretty easy for me.

First of all, what focal length are you using? If you use telephoto, you can capture the "trail" more easily but your camera shake will be more obvious. I typical use 20mm lens to capture the entire landscape.

Secondly, regarding the exposure vs ISO, I also use ISO100 negatives, usually at F5.6 or F8. It's hard to know how long it should take, but it has been pretty forgiving for me. The longest I've exposed is 35min. It's not perfect, but I can always fix the photos in photoshop.

Thirdly, don't include the moon in your shot. The best is to shoot in the other direction.

With regards to dew, not sure about that. I can definitely see dew forming on the glass. Well, may be you should set up a heater to keep it warm haha.

When I lived close to the shore of lake Michigan, I would set up my camera at the beach(pitch black), then go home to do my laundry and then come back to the beach to get my camera. Actually I was scared to stay on the beach along.... it's quite eerie. That particular shot didn't turn out well because I had the light house in the frame, which became nothing but a hot spot.

Where are you in Florida? I haven't found a place where there's little light around here (s.florida). I am going to key west this weekend and hopefully that will work.

Lastly, the location of where you are on this planet does matter. Up north, the air is drier and therefore you get less light pollution from dust and moisture. Florida will be tougher even though it's winter season now. I also have the theory that the Earth's atmosphere is thicker closer to the equator than at the poles, so light from the stars will have to work harder to get to your film in Florida as compared to Michigan. My best star trail captures are either up in the mountains or up north.

 

[FilmDood]

I'm in Central Florida. In my backyard, although, not being that impressive of a star show, there is quite a lot of stars out there on a nightly basis, except when the local high school has the floodlights on.

I looked around the whole sky... and I saw no moon. I guess it hasn't risen much yet, hopefully it won't come up tonight.

I don't have a heater that I can just... stick out there. Nor a fan. I just started my exposure, about 8 minutes ago, actually. I'm planning for a 30 minute exposure for this one.

I took my camera and lens out of the baggy I had them in, and they were dead cold, so hopefully the dew won't be an issue.

I'm just using a standard lens, nothing special, so hopefully that's good enough. I managed to focus on the brightest stars out there, so my images should be crisp, if no dew collects on the lens.

I was reading some tutorials earlier, and the suggested time for a proper star trail for film, in the winter in the NH is anywhere from 3-5 hours. Hopefully I'll get at least 5 shots done tonight, maybe 6.

I just want star trails already. D:

 

[molested_cow]

At least you are in your own backyard, you can just go back in to watch tv and enjoy the warm snuggie.


Think about being in the desert alone.....

LA and Joshua Tree :: 033_1.jpg picture by molested_cow - Photobucket

Good luck!

 

[FilmDood]

They came out! They seem faint on the negatives, but they are very visible, we'll have to see what they look like in the enlarger tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll be able to sandwich the four shots together without any issues. If not, I will seriously find the darkest area around where I live, get my camera, drive there. And take a 6 hour exposure.

Yeah.

 

[kalliela]

Lol, I didn't even know you could do this with film? Someone will have to tell me how to do this one day.

 

[Josh66]

Lol, I didn't even know you could do this with film? Someone will have to tell me how to do this one day.

Umm... It's actually easier with film than digital... Would you do a 6 hour exposure on a digital body? I wouldn't...

How to do it? You just set the shutter speed to bulb, then go drink a six pack.
(Though, for a six hour exposure, you might need more than a 6-pack. ...Or maybe a 6-pack and a nap. )

 

[kalliela]

This is dumb, but how do you take a 6 hr exposure without overexposing the film? I guess if it were the moon, it can be blown out? What film speed and iso setting would this need? F/stop? F 5.6 or 8 like mentioned above? I am an idiot, I think I took a 2 min shot of the moon on the bulb setting and it was just a white dot on the film I think ...I don't remember.

 

[Josh66]

The moon is pretty bright... A 2 minute exposure of it will most likely be over exposed no matter what settings you use.

Star trails would be best on a moonless night. Away from city lights...

 

[molested_cow]

It's very hard to over expose taking night shots. At most you get a "day-light" look.
For really long exposures, you can use low ISO films, like 80 or 100, along with small aperture. Of course, you don't want to get it so low that it create undesirable distortions.

You can also use filters to further step it down.

For moon, it's hard with film to know the right setting. Usually it's a rather quick exposure. So if you want to take a shot with moon and stars in the same frame, you will have to take them separately using different settings and combine them together in post processing.

 

[kalliela]

Oh, and how do you "sandwich" these photos? what is sandwiching? I know, right? Is that like stitching frames together? I saw someone's facebook where he took like a bazillion pics on his digital and "sandwiched" them..played it like a movie I guess? And it looked like a short film of the stars moving across the sky at night, it was way cool.