Halo panopticon star trails

drodd

drodd

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Dawn
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Hiya,

I have been wanting to go up to the Halo above Haslingden/Rossendale since my last visit there a few months ago to have a try at star trails with the structure as a focal point.

With the weather the way it has been the past 2 days I decided it best to seize the opportunity of a clear sky and attempt this feat tonight.

So I packed up camera equipment and 6 year old son and headed over there.

It was an amazing evening, the dusk sky was gorgeous and there were so many stars out .... perfect (except for very windy ... although warm).

So here is my attempt from the evening, of which I am quite pleased ... considering I needed eyes in the back of my head watching my son running around on a hill in the dark (although he did take a few of his own shots too ... which are great) :LOL:

Please feel free to provide any comments or critique. This is an area of photography that I would like to learn more about and I have only attempted a few of this style of shot in the past, but with the nights drawing in now ... I am ready to practice some more so any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn :)

1. This is how it appears with all the features on the horizon:

6192945191_26e0b2b950_b.jpg

[/url] Halo star trails by crystal_singer (drodd), on Flickr[/IMG]

2. This is an edit with the wind turbine (which generates the energy for the lights) and some pylons removed:

6193035067_4154b0784d_b.jpg

[/url] Halo star trails - edit by crystal_singer (drodd), on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Hey Dawn, great to see that you've been out star trailing it (y) I'm sure you had fun, I'm thinking about heading out tomorrow night, weather permitting (y)

I have to day that I'm for the edited version funnily enough :LOL:

Matt
 
MWHCVT said:
Hey Dawn, great to see that you've been out star trailing it (y) I'm sure you had fun, I'm thinking about heading out tomorrow night, weather permitting (y)

I have to day that I'm for the edited version funnily enough :LOL:

Matt
Click to expand...

Hiya Matt,

Oh yes I had to take advantage of the gorgeous clear sky tonight. Still was a bit late for Roo though ... he only got to bed at 10:30 .... but heyho .... he had fun too and will sleep well tonight.

Hope the weather is in your favour for tomoz, here is holding thumbs.

Thanks for your advice via flickr, I did a quick edit as you can see here :D

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
I was on my way home from work at 9pm and did notice a very clear sky and the stars.

You very made a good decision to get out and do some star trailing, and have come away with a cracking image, with the edited version being my pick.
 
Wow I love it, I've never had a go at star trails but I'm going to have a go soon. I'm sure theres plenty of tutorials out there on how it's done.
 
whiteflyer said:
I was on my way home from work at 9pm and did notice a very clear sky and the stars.

You very made a good decision to get out and do some star trailing, and have come away with a cracking image, with the edited version being my pick.
Click to expand...

Hiya Mark, I was just packing up at 9pm .... I could have quite easily stayed longer, but my son was with me and with it being a school night I had to get him home. I just hope there is another opportunity of clear sky in the near future for me to go over there and get an even better shot. There are so many different angles which one can capture a great shot of this structure.

Thank you for you compliment of the photo .... I am well pleased with it myself.


Billy said:
Wow I love it, I've never had a go at star trails but I'm going to have a go soon. I'm sure theres plenty of tutorials out there on how it's done.
Click to expand...

Hiya Billy, thanks for the kind words. I think there may be some guides on how to do this type of photography, I will have to look them up. I basically went by on remembering some advice given to me by fellow TP members in the past. I look forward to seeing your photos of same when you get chance to do them.

Thanks guys for your feedback, much appreciated.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
I love them, is the red glow light pollution? It adds a nice effect if it is.
 
Wow, great shot. I prefer the edited one, the structure reminds me of some kind of space craft :p
 
Billy said:
Wow I love it, I've never had a go at star trails but I'm going to have a go soon. I'm sure theres plenty of tutorials out there on how it's done.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Dawn will not mind (y) but to answer your question yeah there are some tutorials out there, not sure if we have one in our tutorials section if not I'm sure that will soon change (y)

All the kit you need is a trigger with lock and a tripod (y) and a clear night :naughty: then it's just a case of experimentation, if your lucky not to suffer from light pollution you can do it as one long exposure but most are done as stacked exposures (i.e. lots of exposures of say 30 seconds layered one on top of the other) (y) if a windows used visit startrails.de and download the free stacking software from there this is the easiest way to do your stacking :D

Matt
MWHCVT
 
Wheels said:
I love them, is the red glow light pollution? It adds a nice effect if it is.
Click to expand...

Hi Julian, thank you for the comments. Indeed the red glow is light pollution ... from both the Burnley, Haslingden and Rossendale sides ... not much I could do about it and agree it does add a nice effect ;-)

bensambrook said:
Wow, great shot. I prefer the edited one, the structure reminds me of some kind of space craft :p
Click to expand...

Hi Ben, thanks .... I agree the structure does look like some sort of space craft. The best is when one can capture a motion blur of a figure walking under the structure .... almost alien like :D

MWHCVT said:
I'm sure Dawn will not mind (y) but to answer your question yeah there are some tutorials out there, not sure if we have one in our tutorials section if not I'm sure that will soon change (y)

All the kit you need is a trigger with lock and a tripod (y) and a clear night :naughty: then it's just a case of experimentation, if your lucky not to suffer from light pollution you can do it as one long exposure but most are done as stacked exposures (i.e. lots of exposures of say 30 seconds layered one on top of the other) (y) if a windows used visit startrails.de and download the free stacking software from there this is the easiest way to do your stacking :D

Matt
MWHCVT
Click to expand...

Hiya Matt, true to form you are ... and thanks. I don't mind at all you providing expert advice .... after all you are a master at this type of photography ... so thanks for contributing same.

For this pic I set the camera up on the tripod, 18-55 kit lens, trigger release, 30 sec exposure, f3.5 and ISO 200 .... if I remember correct. I think this was 59 shots which I then stacked using startrails.de. Minimal post processing ... and as you suggested cloning out the wind turbine and pylons.

I agree min light pollution would probably be the ideal condition ... but in this case it was uncontrollable .... considering there are three towns surrounding the area, not to mention the immense light radiating from the structure itself, but all of which I think add to the ambiance of the scene.

I'm just looking through some of the other shots I took tonight .... with the dusk in the background .... and it was stunning. I'll see if I get time to upload some later.

Thanks again all for your comments.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
I normally try to get rid of the amber sky with a CWB but with the turquoise of the Halo the sky works perfectly here.

Billy - there's a link in my sig for a star trails tutorial when you're battling with light pollution.

For anyone still using startrails.exe - time to move on. Download StarStaX from www.StarStaX.net: it's free, it's fast, it's multi-platform, you can output alternative file formats and it has additional timelapse & darkframe features, if you like that kind of thing. Oh, and the menus/ instructions are in English.
 
AndWhyNot said:
I normally try to get rid of the amber sky with a CWB but with the turquoise of the Halo the sky works perfectly here.

Billy - there's a link in my sig for a star trails tutorial when you're battling with light pollution.

For anyone still using startrails.exe - time to move on. Download StarStaX from www.StarStaX.net: it's free, it's fast, it's multi-platform, you can output alternative file formats and it has additional timelapse & darkframe features, if you like that kind of thing. Oh, and the menus/ instructions are in English.
Click to expand...

Hiya Andrew,

Thank you for the comments and also the valuable information you have provided in your reply.

I have read your star trails tutorial now and it is very informative ... thank you.

I've also now downloaded StarStaX to see if there is a difference between the startrails one .... and wow a big difference ....especially regards noise control. Thanks again for the link to same.

Here is hoping for more clear skies soon ... I'm getting quite excited about doing more of this kind of photography soon.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Just Dave said:
Brilliant Dawn, love the combination, I havent tried star trails yet or been to the Halo
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Hiya Dave,

Thanks for the comment. I'm a tad hooked on star trails and light painting/trails after the weekend with the TP52 gang. Was out again tonight at the singing ringing tree in Burnley. Not sure how the pics have come out .... going to look at them now.

Also going up to WRP for the weekend .... so hopefully get more done there :D

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Thank for all the links to the guides etc, I need to find a good location now, somewhere near the car as I have a broken leg at the moment with a full leg cast on. Oh and my wife to drive me there,
Do you think I'd be asking to much if I asked here to be my caddy for the evening?
 
Billy said:
Thank for all the links to the guides etc, I need to find a good location now, somewhere near the car as I have a broken leg at the moment with a full leg cast on. Oh and my wife to drive me there,
Do you think I'd be asking to much if I asked here to be my caddy for the evening?
Click to expand...

Hey Billy .... no probs .... soz to hear you have a broken leg at the mo .... hope you are on the mend soon. I know how debilitating that can be ... I had a broken arm 4 years ago and it was so restricting. If you need a caddy ... just shout! You are only down the drag from moi.

Cheers

Dawn (y)
 
I tried this for the first time a few months ago. I enjoyed it and some of the images I got although I felt they weren't of good enough quality to do anything with other than class it as practice. Sarah got some good ones though.

One of the lessons I certainly learnt was the need to have some good foreground interest. You've certainly done this. As someone has said the colour of the Halo really compliments the colour in the sky. Great shots. You've inspired me to try and get out there again.
 
whatdoesthisbutt said:
I'm planning on shooting this and the singing tree next week.
Your star trails look great!....do you know what time they light up, is it a dusk sensor or a rigid time?
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Hiya Gav

Thanks for the comment.

I think the Halo may be dusk sensitive as each time I have been, as the sun is setting, the lights begin to illuminate. So if you can time it for an evening where there will be clear skies and gorgeous sunset you can get shots of the Halo with the sun setting in the background .... and as the nights draw in so quickly now you will be able to get some great star trail pics.

The singing tree is very dark, no lighting there, which is great if you intend to do a bit of light painting of the tree. Remember to take a good torch with you and wrap up warm because it can get very chilly there, especially if there is a wind up ... which is great then because the singing tree belts out its notes :D

Good luck with the shoot and I look forward to seeing your photos (y)

Delta Skies said:
I tried this for the first time a few months ago. I enjoyed it and some of the images I got although I felt they weren't of good enough quality to do anything with other than class it as practice. Sarah got some good ones though.

One of the lessons I certainly learnt was the need to have some good foreground interest. You've certainly done this. As someone has said the colour of the Halo really compliments the colour in the sky. Great shots. You've inspired me to try and get out there again.
Click to expand...

Hiya Peter

Thanks for the compliments and glad the photos have inspired you to return there. Good luck with you next visit .... I am sure you will get some great shots and look forward to seeing same here on TP.

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
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