Star Trails

.JamesGill. · Jan 24, 2012

Not sure where to post this so I'll put it in general....... It's my first attempt, I took 36 pictures at 30 secs each, a few are missing due to planes but I now have knowledge on how to get rid of the light trails so that I can have no gaps in the stars (cloning), but it's not too bad, on the bottom left is the Iridium satellite.

dancer · Jan 24, 2012

I keep wanting to try one of these. Looks like you got it right. As a photo though it's lacking a bit on context.

Sw1tchFX · Jan 24, 2012

Instead of stacking, you could try just calculating one long exposure. I get much better results that way and they are alot less work to do.

.JamesGill. · Jan 24, 2012

Thanks for your comments, I did try once with one long exposure, but it didn't seem as good, I could try one again, also, one exposure would need a lot of work getting rid of light trails from planes, also I soon hope to buy a timer remote, which does all the work for me so i don't have to press the shutter, so almost the same as one exposure, also I'm able to edit the images separately with the stacking method.
To the first comment, 'lacking a bit in context' I know (if you mean it's a bit boring and need more scenery) But the only other scenery was the roof of my house, which isn't very exciting, and also if I had pointed the camera down a little I would have been aiming right at a flight path, one of about 4-5 above my house....

Sw1tchFX · Jan 24, 2012

the trick is to get out of town. Drive about 50-100 miles on a night where the moon isn't present or it's a new moon and you'll see trails. Trust me.

.JamesGill. · Jan 25, 2012

Sw1tchFX said:
the trick is to get out of town. Drive about 50-100 miles on a night where the moon isn't present or it's a new moon and you'll see trails. Trust me.

Yeah, I don't live too near big towns or cities, very close to the countryside, so I can get to somewhere with less light pollution quite easily

AceCo55 · Jan 25, 2012

Come to Australia - plenty of space, no air traffic here - what is light pollution (lol!!!). Big place ... not very many people (but we have a hellava fly population!)
Star trails are something I keep meaning to get around to ... but never have (sigh).
Good on you for starting - enjoy the ride and you never know where it will take you.

Frequency · Jan 25, 2012

Byoootifull !!!!

McNugget801 · Jan 25, 2012

Not bad for your first try.

Sw1tchFX said:
Instead of stacking, you could try just calculating one long exposure. I get much better results that way and they are alot less work to do.

By stacking you can used a wider aperture and higher ISO so you can pick up more stars in your image ... huge advantage by doing this.

Sw1tchFX said:
the trick is to get out of town. Drive about 50-100 miles on a night where the moon isn't present or it's a new moon and you'll see trails. Trust me

again stacking ...

Two of my full moon star trails

Anyone home? by Summit42, on Flickr

Shelter trails by Summit42, on Flickr

.JamesGill. · Jan 25, 2012

Amazing star trails McNugget801.

AceCo55 said:
what is light pollution (lol!!!).

light pollution is basically a orangey glow that surrounds towns and cities, made by street lights, houses, cars etc. it blocks out a lot of what you can see in the sky, most of the time at night in London, you can't see any stars at all, but where I live is quite far away so my view of the night sky isn't too bad.
I'm going to cornwall a couple of times this year, also the norfolk broads, so I'll have more attempts at these then, maybe getting a river or the sea in the picture, and hopefully I'll have a new tripod and wide angle lens by then

McNugget801 · Jan 25, 2012

.JamesGill. said:
Amazing star trails McNugget801.

why thank you

here's a good tutorial
How To Shoot Star Trails | Backcountrypost Forum

Sw1tchFX · Jan 25, 2012

I'm sure there is an advantage, but i'm going to be shooting at a higher ISO, than I wouldn't want the stars to be moving:

.JamesGill. · Jan 25, 2012

McNugget801 said:
.JamesGill. said:

Amazing star trails McNugget801.

Click to expand...

why thank you

here's a good tutorial
How To Shoot Star Trails | Backcountrypost Forum

Thanks! I just read the tutorial on star trails, it is way more than I already knew, much appreciated, I also read about using continuous shooting mode on my camera, made me very happy as I don't have to press the shutter each time now.