I'm interested to hear about how you guys make star trails! =)

from what i know, a shutter speed of 5mins should do the trick right? how about the issue of light pollution and such?

please share your techniques please! =)


anyway, here's what i managed to scrunge up.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y127/technolustetp/PA201296web.jpg

how can i make this a better photo?

technical details are as follows:
shutter: 480sec
F-value: F/22 if im not mistaken
ISO: 100
focal length: 56mm (35mm equiv)

Sir, where did you take this photo? It looks nice to me. :) I wanna learn this too.

cyrus,

well, it's quite simple really. =) just mount your camera on a tripod, set it to bulb mode and expose for 2-5mins, get coffee or have smoke (or both), and wait for the results =b. one usually needs a cable release for this, but if you have really, really, really steady hands, you can just hand hold it =b hehehehe =b

i took this just outside our house. i think the number of stars you can get depends on how dark the sky is..

hope that helps =)

tok..
i dont get the idea :)

bakit puro lines?

Does the "self-timer" replaces the "cable-release" instead?
I mean, u set for the "bulb-mode" then press the shutter w/ the "self-timer" as the delay(to avoid the shake)..
ask ko lang po, thanks

tok..
i dont get the idea :)

bakit puro lines?

Those are the trails stars make but i think the earth really makes it cause of its rotation :)

Those are the trails stars make but i think the earth really makes it cause of its rotation :)

Yup Yup! =)

Does the "self-timer" replaces the "cable-release" instead?
I mean, u set for the "bulb-mode" then press the shutter w/ the "self-timer" as the delay(to avoid the shake)..
ask ko lang po, thanks

bulb mode or "B" on other cameras, is a shutter-speed setting which allows you to set the shutter as long as you like (which on some DSLRs is 8mins =b) as long as you the shutter button is pressed

the reason for the cable release is so you can lock your shutter button so you can get a shutter speed of 8mins or more =)

hi. i tried shooting some stars as well 2 weeks ago when i read about the meteor shower. since i didn't want to wait and have some neck pain, i set up my camera to bulb, and all i got were lines/streaks like in that photo. it seems that we need a different set-up to photograph stars (and the galaxies etc.) i read that a guider, so that the camera stays focused on a particular astronomical subject and does not rotate with the earth, is a must.

Canon's guide to Astro Photography

http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/astro/index-e.html

Mike

Hey,MikeDougan! That was deep! Thanks for that site.

Hi Tok Paler! I read a book by Lee Frost and he suggests that when you take shots like the one you posted, it is advisable to place a fixed object such as your house, a tree, etc to create more drama. Use wide angle lens to capture more stars. His settings were at iso100 f4 for 30secs.

Manila pollution causes haze. Your picture was clear. Where did you take this?Thanks.

hi tok. just wanna share this with you, my friend. :)

http://static.flickr.com/79/234548937_500947738d_o.jpg

canon 30D on kit lens iso 100 f/8 30+ minutes bulb. in zambales.

Hey,MikeDougan! That was deep! Thanks for that site.

Hi Tok Paler! I read a book by Lee Frost and he suggests that when you take shots like the one you posted, it is advisable to place a fixed object such as your house, a tree, etc to create more drama. Use wide angle lens to capture more stars. His settings were at iso100 f4 for 30secs.

Manila pollution causes haze. Your picture was clear. Where did you take this?Thanks.

thanks for the info ting =) i'll keep that in mind the next time.

the shot was actually hazy! i just ran it under the usual post production to make the stars more visible. the shot was taken just outside our house =).

Jay,

Yan ba yun nafeature sa DPP? i knew there was a shot such as that, i just realized that you took it pala =b hehehehehe! =D

How do you know what star to focus on? What would be the best time to do this?

Thanks!

Hi Tok,

I think you need to find the north star in order to have the stars look like that...I think the masters could answer this a lot better.

Roy

Hi Tok,

I think you need to find the north star in order to have the stars look like that...I think the masters could answer this a lot better.

Roy

First star to the right and straight on till morning? =b hehehehehe! =)

How do you find the north star exactly?

hi tok. just wanna share this with you, my friend. :)

http://static.flickr.com/79/234548937_500947738d_o.jpg

canon 30D on kit lens iso 100 f/8 30+ minutes bulb. in zambales.


great shot..i'll try that speed using smaller openning

Hi Tok! It appears you made a star trail of the constellation Orion on the bottom center of the image. If you want to capture as many stars as possible set it at the widest aperture and the highest ISO. The higher the focal length, the longer the star trail. With wide angle lenses you can hardly notice the trails til you go longer than 45 secs.

@Raul - If you're looking for a simple guider for preventing star trails, a scotch mount is highly recommended. Here's a link: http://www.jlc.net/~force5/Astro/ATM/Barndoor/barndoor.html

Jay,

Yan ba yun nafeature sa DPP? i knew there was a shot such as that, i just realized that you took it pala =b hehehehehe! =D

How do you know what star to focus on? What would be the best time to do this?

Thanks!

hi tok. no this wasnt the photo. or wait, hehe...what are you referring to? :)

this effort was far from ideal. i just wanted to see the possibilities of "stacking" long exposures. i am not stupid enough - probably - to burn my then 3-month old 30D's sensor by opening it for 30 minutes! hehehe. i took around 8 four-minute exposures and then combined them in CS2. go to my potipot album in my multiply. i wrote a lenghty discourse on the method i tried to get this effect, among the replies in that album.

i wanted to go a full hour...15 four-minute exposures...but i miscalculated my position. after 30 minutes of shooting the scene, the tide rose to where my tripod was entrenched and the entire thing shifted in the wet sand...ruining everything.

i tried to focus hyperfocal but i think i got it wrong...a bit. hence the slightly OOF feel. damn. wait, after reviewing it...IT IS OOF! wtf was i doing?!

the best time to do this? on a full moon! why? because you have something to illuminate your foreground with! try pointing your camera either due north or south so you can have "circular" star trails. a compass or a gps helps! one hour of stacked exposures is good enought....ive seen 3 hour film star trails though....if you want to try something that long on a digital, then better have a battery pack since bulb exposures drain batteries horrendously. and changing batteries in the midst of this is a no-no since you dont want to have very long "gaps" in your star trails. not to mention that there is a possibility your "stacked" exposures will be misaligned.

i will try this again soon....and then i will write a proper how-to and share what i have learned. or maybe you'll perfect it way before i get back to doing some real serious landscapes/cityscape/starscape photography....:D

Does the "self-timer" replaces the "cable-release" instead?
I mean, u set for the "bulb-mode" then press the shutter w/ the "self-timer" as the delay(to avoid the shake)..
ask ko lang po, thanks

no. on canons at least...you need to press on the shutter to keep the shutter open. impractical to do this without the remote since the possibility of camera shake is high if your trigger finger is on the shutter for more than a few seconds. the rs-80 remote switch has a lock which keeps the shutter open...and allows you to take a jingle or two. :)

Hi Tok! It appears you made a star trail of the constellation Orion on the bottom center of the image. If you want to capture as many stars as possible set it at the widest aperture and the highest ISO. The higher the focal length, the longer the star trail. With wide angle lenses you can hardly notice the trails til you go longer than 45 secs.


Very informative Bernard =) Thanks for the info!

i tried using a longer focal length. i did get longer trails, but i was using a lower ISO as well... so Orion's belt was barely visible and that was the only constellation i got...

i am not stupid enough - probably - to burn my then 3-month old 30D's sensor by opening it for 30 minutes!

Hold on... you mean you can ACTUALLY burn your sensor doing this?!

[/quote]the best time to do this? on a full moon! [/quote]

would the time matter? if you would want to illuminate your foreground, would the same principle of the "golden hour" apply?

i read somewhere that the full moon adds light pollution, hence fewer stars...

Hold on... you mean you can ACTUALLY burn your sensor doing this?!

the best time to do this? on a full moon! [/quote]

would the time matter? if you would want to illuminate your foreground, would the same principle of the "golden hour" apply?

i read somewhere that the full moon adds light pollution, hence fewer stars...[/quote]


no...hehehe...just an urban legend. but i still wont try it. the longest ive done was a 10 minute exposure though...i dont dare try push it longer. well, maybe if i have a 5D na and my current cam is for backup na lang...i'll shoot out 999 seconds!

time? yup. try to do it when the moon is still far away from setting. for this photograph...the last 2 exposures had little lunar illumination (moon had settled down the horizon)...and it really messed up my noise management! equal length exposures tend to get noisy as the shadows increase....

light pollution? not a problem as long as the moon is far from the frame. in this case, it was behind me...lighting the tree well...(at least before it sunk below the west horizon).

that light pollution thing got spawned by those astronomers hunting for deep sky objects where the moon just happens to smile right smack in the constellation they are looking stuff for. proximity matters. but if you're shooting to the north, i guess the moon's +12 magnitude wont be enough to outshine your twinkle twinkle little stars :)

Hehehehehe! Kala ko naman! =b

i'll try to do some as soon as i get my cable release back from Norman =b i'll post some photos as soon as i do!

By the way, try posting some more photos guys!

I've read that 1Ds cameras can handle longer exposures without damaging the sensor. The problem will be the battery life which is less than 2 hours. Shooting in the cold would help but you would have dew problems and dew on the lens would require you to put a dew heater/shield around the lens.