Star Trail Fail!!

minnnt

minnnt

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David
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Had a wander out tonight with the camera to try my hand at star trails... Hmmm... :eek:

Set off with a clear sky as the sun was just setting. By the time i had got to where i had planned, it was dark. ALSO by that time some cloud had rolled in which kind of ruined the whole thing, but having driven for an hour to get there i wasn't going home without something!! The area had more light pollution than i thought it would have but i picked the best spot which was down a dirt track. Did some test shots and picked a setting i was happy with. Set the trigger going and returned to the car for some coffee. I managed 93 shots before the young 'un started whinging that she was bored. Also, and rather funnily, 2 Landy's decided they needed to go down this dirt track just as i was shooting. Typical! So glad my camera wasn't set up in the middle of the track. I had set it to one side to get a half decent composure. :nailbiting: Having stacked the images i think the added light trails have added something to it as they lit up the track also.

So, here we go.

Nikon D7000
93 30 second exposures
f5.6
iso 100
18mm


Star Trail... Fail? Original by David Raynham, on Flickr

And a slightly edited version to bring the shadows up along with a touch more exposure...


Star Trail... Fail? by David Raynham, on Flickr


I'm wanting to do this again soon, think i'm going to try for 200+ shots in a different location. :D

C+C welcome along with any advice you want to offer a noooooooob! :)

Cheers.
David.
 
I can't offer any crit with only having tried it for my second time tonight lol, but I was told that a higher ISO picked up fainter stars. Maybe try a higher ISO next tiime and shorter exposures. Obviously you will need more shots though.

Nice first try though and it's something I want to do again myself.:) I know your frustration all too well lol.
 
Thanks Paul. Yes i was going to up the ISO, but i'm weary of noise... I guess it is just something that you need to experiment with until you finally nail it.

So many tutorials around and they all say slightly different things. I think i'm also going to shoot in JPEG next time as loading 93 raw files into PS is a ball ache. :LOL:
 
Noise gets reduced when you stack the images for the final picture. I use a Canon 550D and the shots I took in my star trail thread were at ISO800. With the 550D noise starts to become visible at 400. I was wary of this issue also but it does work.
 
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/photography-guide-star-trails.355313/
Have a look at Matts tutuorial (2nd time I've recommended this tonight)
Yes - up the iso - it will help pick out fainter stars - noise WILL be reduced during stacking although sometimes things can end up looking a bit plastic.
Also, its amazing how far you really need to get away from any light pollution - digital sensors pick it up ever so easily!
 
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Also, its not a fail, its a learning curve:)
You wanted trails - you got trails. Next time hopefully you will get better ones:)
 
It may seem like a lot of time wasted but guaranteed you have learned a lot from the first try and apply it to the next time. Practice makes perfect. I feel like going out again but my need for bed is higher up in my to do list:rolleyes:
 
Hey,

I think you ended up with really nice shot in the end. The car trails added a nice effect as well. How long does it take to get a star trail? Also is a certain lens required for the best effect, or would a lens kit be good enough to achieve a decent result? Just got my first DSLR, which like to give stair trails a shot with it.
 
Hi Grums. Kit lens is perfect for this. This one took about 45 minutes to do. Obviously the longer you shoot for the longer the trails will be in your final image. Another way to do it is to zoom in a little further so the star fill the frame quicker. Just make sure you get some good foreground interest.
 
minnnt said:
Hi Grums. Kit lens is perfect for this. This one took about 45 minutes to do. Obviously the longer you shoot for the longer the trails will be in your final image. Another way to do it is to zoom in a little further so the star fill the frame quicker. Just make sure you get some good foreground interest.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the reply. Sounds great! My camera arrives on Thursday, so I will definitely give this a shot at the weekend.
 
this photo here.. hand down is the greatest i have seen on this site.. you keep posting that great work!
 
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