Star Trails

.JamesGill.

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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.

Myamazingfirststarttrails-withIridiumsatellite.jpg
 
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.
 
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.
 
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....
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
Not bad for your first try.

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.

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
 
Amazing star trails McNugget801.

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 ;)
 
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:
5325018619_d6deabcd54_b.jpg
 
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:
5325018619_d6deabcd54_b.jpg

That is a truly beautiful picture Sw1tchFX, not sure I could ever match that or the star trails posted by McNugget801....:thumbup:
 

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