Night Church (Star Trails)

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Name
Sarah
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Quite like this shot but struggling to get a decent print. Works better as digital projection (or I need a better printer). Hints on improving star brightness in print whilst preserving darkness of sky appreciated. Also annoyed at way sky lightens above church roofline. Don't think I tweaked with "clarity" on initial image stack so not sure where that's come from. No HDR either :puke:


6483586873_f18dcebc2a_z.jpg
 
Looks pretty damn good to me. Top effort.

Did you light paint the church and if so, on just one exposure or all of them? Would be interested to hear your technique.
 
Considered light painting the church and ran a test frame as such, but this is just ambient light. I've been doing quite a lot with star trails and teh effect is very different depending on whether you go out with plenty of moonlight or on a really dark night. This is full moon and the shot was timed and composed to ensure the church would be fully lit by the rising moon (in fact the long exposure ensured that the shadows were filled too). I use layered 30sec exposures as 1. I can't be bothered to hang around on Bulb (this was set up and then I went somewhere warm for a cuppa) 2. noise issues are less 3. dangers of losign the whole shot by flat battery / muppet with a bright light is less 4. takes less time to get the exposure right when you're jiggering about with a 30sec exposure.

The other recent star trails in photostream are during new moon. Went out on a night with a clear airmass (polar / arctic maritime) giving clearest skies we get in S. UK but still the light pollution was an issue. Darker night = brighter stars = more intense trails for a given exposure. Really need to re-do the church over a couple of hours when I've got the patience.
 
Think this might be my favourite star trails picture to date.
 
Thanks, everyone. I've since got the print sorted by slightly more careful processing using curves above the roofline and improving contrast and desaturating the sky to make it "inkier".

Personally, I wasn't overly enthralled with the composition, as I reckoned that without the trails it would have been a bit bland. I prefer to get good compositions first and then the trails just add some dynamism.

If you're thinking of having a go, it's easier than you might think so long as you don't mind standing about in the cold for hours and then spending forever layering the images (I must buy some software to do this automatically)
 
I'm liking that picture a lot, really gagging to go out and do some myself but light pollution is a real issue when I am.

Startrails.de have stacking software which was free when I down loaded it, easy to use as well :)
 
I actually think it would be a great picture without the star trails.
 
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