Here's a 46-minute continuous star trail of the southern sky right in our backyard. After doing a 30-minute star trail, I pushed the limits of my cam and tried 46 minutes of continuous exposure @ f/4. Soon after I ended the exposure, a meteor streaked past from north to south which would have made a light trail on the right side of the image. Talk about bad luck!
Note: The two fuzzy objects on the left and top of the image are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

http://static.flickr.com/117/298009207_3eb06544bc.jpg

Hi bernard! I'd love to see it, but I can't. Could there be a problem with the link perhaps?

That's weird... I can see it on my PC. I'll try using flickr.

bernard, you make me want to try this :D thanks for the share!

Nice, nice, nice and clean :D

hey this great! ive been thinking of doing this for sometime now.

And how did you react after seeing the meteor? Nag wish ka lang sana na may dumating pa. hehehe.

Nice capture though.

And how did you react after seeing the meteor? Nag wish ka lang sana na may dumating pa. hehehe.

Nice capture though.

I wished that my batteries would last for the next 45 minutes while the cam is processing the image. :Grin: And I got my wish!

WOW! Very nice! Thanks for giving me the heads up that you've reposted the link. I hope to see more. :)

I should try this out with film :p

How did you meter the scene?

Something new to try... thanks for sharing! :)

very cool Bernard.

the perks of living in 100% pure new zealand! hehehe.

beautiful image idol! :) will try this in anawangin but i'll have to buy another battery. they might gang up on me the next day if i dont take more souvenir shots! hahaha.

beautiful!!! this i gotta try!

the perks of living in 100% pure new zealand! hehehe.

beautiful image idol! :) will try this in anawangin but i'll have to buy another battery. they might gang up on me the next day if i dont take more souvenir shots! hahaha.

Thanks! I'm already planning on using Mt. Doom as the foreground but the weather down there's been crap for the past month.
Buy the OEM battery from Canon. My generic BP511 didn't even last for 30 minutes and that was freshly charged. You should try it for 60mins, with pine trees or tents as foreground interests.
Sama mo na ba si Che? Hopefully the weather's good this weekend and let me know how it turns out. I wanna know how long we can squeeze the juice out of it.

wow this is new! will try it...thanks for sharing.

I should try this out with film :p

How did you meter the scene?

I didn't meter it... I just set the ISO at 100 (higher ISO will capture more stars but will create more noise), and the lens' widest aperture at f/4. Stopping down would capture fewer stars. The longer the focal length and the farther you point your camera away from the pole, the longer the trail.
I think this would turn out great with film. With slide film, long exposures create a green cast on images so you need an FLD filter to counteract this.

Cool star trails. I tried to this once but I got some weird purple glow at the top left corner of my photo.

i wish we could post that 13-hour jim brandenburg star trails photo with the 1D-s! hehehe. the man's really something!

oh well, here's the link:
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/explorers/jim_brandenburg/brandenburg.html

bernard, thanks for telling me about this. if im getting a 5D, this will be the last thing i will try with the 30D. lol :D

Cool star trails. I tried to this once but I got some weird purple glow at the top left corner of my photo.
Thanks! That purple glow might be fixed pattern noise created by your cam's sensor. You can eliminate it using dark frame subtraction.
Here's a link from Canon's Astrophotography page on how to do it.
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/astro/pages_e/12_e.html

i wish we could post that 13-hour jim brandenburg star trails photo with the 1D-s! hehehe. the man's really something!

oh well, here's the link:
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/explorers/jim_brandenburg/brandenburg.html

bernard, thanks for telling me about this. if im getting a 5D, this will be the last thing i will try with the 30D. lol :D

I've seen better shots with film though, but yeah doing it with a 1Ds was just amazing. Brandenburg probably got it for free coz he switched brands. I still want a 2ndhand Canon EOS 10 film slr though as it doesn't use batteries for bulb exposures.

Here's a 30 minute exposure of Polaris. I did an aggressive noise reduction to 'clean' the final product:).
I read somewhere that you can expose in 5 minutes interval, then stacking the series of pictures and it will result in a much cleaner picture. I still need to try that technique, tho'.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/464756496_395943fc0a.jpg

TFS bernard, i was also wondering how you meter that shot, thanks for the explaining it btw nice signature,,



bernard, thanks for telling me about this. if im getting a 5D, this will be the last thing i will try with the 30D. lol :D

:Love::Love::Love::Love: bili na :Love::Love:

how would you know the center of the star trail?

by pointing your camera in the general direction of the north star....Polaris....

how to find polaris? the big dipper will help!

jay, big dipper is the polaris?

nice looooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng exposire shot bernard.

one curious question: doesn't long exposures shorten the life of one's camera? just curious... jay, does it?

sherwin, the end of the big dipper bowl is polaris. :)

i forgot about the picture, sorry, bernard. anyway, it's a great idea -- i should try this in one of the upcoming night shoots! TFS! :)

nope, big dipper is the popular name of the constellation ursa major (the great/big bear)... by projecting a line using two specific stars from this constellation, one will be able to find a faint little star which has helped travelers and navigators for centuries - the north star or Polaris. incidentally, polaris is part of the constellation ursa minor (the small bear).

pointing your camera due north or south will result in circular star trails. pointing your camera due east or west will get you vertical trails that run from the top to the bottom of your frame....

thanks erwin & jay

nice looooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng exposire shot bernard.

one curious question: doesn't long exposures shorten the life of one's camera? just curious... jay, does it?

hi din,

my camera takes 90% long exposures. it will be one year old tomorrow. so far, no problems. i dont think doing so damages or shortens the sensor's life. :)

cool. astrophotography shots. nice photographs!

@ Darryl - Thanks!

If the Big Dipper is not visible in the night sky, you can use Orion's sword (below Orion's Belt) and scan northwards. The north star is about 14 degrees above the horizon in Manila, so it shouldn't be hard to spot.
I'll post more long exposure star trails tomorrow.

huh......

way to go!!!! looooooonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg eeeexxxppppppooooosssuuuurrrrreeee
thanks for sharing....

hi din,

my camera takes 90% long exposures. it will be one year old tomorrow. so far, no problems. i dont think doing so damages or shortens the sensor's life. :)

Jay,

doing long exposures involves mirror up right? :) or more of the bulb? :)

I couldn't find any star trails in my website so I'm just posting this from my Flickr account.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/321952447_39c151dd89_o.jpg
Tongariro National Park
Exposure details:
Canon 20D, 17-40 f/4 L
ISO 100, 60 minutes @ f/4

Ok you Polarisers here you go...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/PolarisB.jpg

very cool :) what happens if your camera runs out of juice while it's exposed? or will it automatically close?

clap clap clap :) very nice shot!.... :)

@diego.... mirror slaps back into place and ends the exposure. that's all.

@jake....hmmm....i use mirror lock-up and bulb exposure mode all the time :)

@bernard....ganda! no wonder your camera's meter is whacked up! hehehe

really? :) even on a nikon D40? :) cool! i was worried that running out of battery power would endanger my camera :)

well, i can only speak for a canon 30D :)

but i dont think running your battery to empty can ruin your camera.

well, i can only speak for a canon 30D :)

but i dont think running your battery to empty can ruin your camera.

But the heat produced by the extensively long exposure predisposes the camera's sensor to more damage, than in normal use.

hi earl,

perhaps. but without evidence to the back it up, fears of damaging digital sensors due to long exposure is inconclusive.

i've exhausted my battery on long exposures, done successive 15 minute exposures, etc. have never encountered any problems. bernard has been trying to bust his 20D as an excuse to upgrade to a 5D. :D

it's a risk one takes - to pursue this kind of photography - which is demanding on one's gear. but that's why i got a canon. i think its just built for this, for night photography. almost all of the long-exposure photography i've seen on the net prior to me buying a dSLR were with a canon :)

hi earl,

perhaps. but without evidence to the back it up, fears of damaging digital sensors due to long exposure is inconclusive.

i've exhausted my battery on long exposures, done successive 15 minute exposures, etc. have never encountered any problems. bernard has been trying to bust his 20D as an excuse to upgrade to a 5D. :D

it's a risk one takes - to pursue this kind of photography - which is demanding on one's gear. but that's why i got a canon. i think its just built for this, for night photography. almost all of the long-exposure photography i've seen on the net prior to me buying a dSLR were with a canon :)

I concur that the damage issue is indeed inconclusive... But the predisposition to the latter is indeed a reality, plus noise issues of course, whichever system is being used.

That's why some cameras are really built by manufacturers to do specific or special fields of photographic discipline... e.g. IR or Astrophotography. :)

I agree as well in taking risks... If it makes you feel good and if it works for you then by all means "fire away" and do it!! :)

oooops... To add... Thanks again to those who posted pics!! :) That's really dedication to your craft. Kudos. :)

I couldn't find any star trails in my website so I'm just posting this from my Flickr account.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/321952447_39c151dd89_o.jpg
Tongariro National Park
Exposure details:
Canon 20D, 17-40 f/4 L
ISO 100, 60 minutes @ f/4

so so nice!!!

why does your sky look so much nicer than ours? is it the pollution here? heheheheh nice image!!!

hi earl,

it's a risk one takes - to pursue this kind of photography - which is demanding on one's gear. but that's why i got a canon. i think its just built for this, for night photography. almost all of the long-exposure photography i've seen on the net prior to me buying a dSLR were with a canon :)

naku earl,

make the nikon users proud... prove to jay that the nikon cams are also built to do this long exposures!!! heheheheheh :Grin:

so so nice!!!

why does your sky look so much nicer than ours? is it the pollution here? heheheheh nice image!!!

Yeah... Here, we have an abundance of CO and CO2. :D Specially at night or early morning... :)

naku earl,

make the nikon users proud... prove to jay that the nikon cams are also built to do this long exposures!!! heheheheheh :Grin:

Actually Dindin, I'm trying to do more than that... :Grin: I'm also trying to prove that the stock D80 can be a very good IR cam as well... Just wrapping up my personal tests. :)

I couldn't find any star trails in my website so I'm just posting this from my Flickr account.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/321952447_39c151dd89_o.jpg
Tongariro National Park
Exposure details:
Canon 20D, 17-40 f/4 L
ISO 100, 60 minutes @ f/4


Bernard, lovely shot! I wish I can do this with my camera. Did you do any in-camera NR here? I suppose you had to clean the photo manually for hot pixels? How bad was it?

I agree with Jay, the Canon is still the best camera for night photography, as it produces the cleanest shot at long exposures. On the other hand, one usually buys (especially with limited budget) a camera for general use (not just night photography) and for this, I would recommend a different system. =B)

Cheers,
Norman

ehem...

wala naman akong sinabi na hindi kaya ng nikon eh. :) kayo talaga.


@din... new zealand prides itself in its purity from pollution...visibility in its mountain ranges can be in excess of 100 miles. that's what their tourism flyer says. :)

@ norman.... looks like bernard didnt do NR.... i could still see some hot pixels... 10 discernible ones in the shadow areas....

not bad for an image with 8.2 million pixels. :)

hey, this isnt about camera systems! :D im still going large-format in due time!

ehem...

wala naman akong sinabi na hindi kaya ng nikon eh. :) kayo talaga.




None taken... :)

No sparks no flames started naman. :) Everything's cool... All systems have their strengths and weaknesses...

Jay, yes I know the limit of what a 350D can or cannot do, for I have access to a Canon system as well. :Grin:

@ norman.... looks like bernard didnt do NR.... i could still see some hot pixels... 10 discernible ones in the shadow areas....

not bad for an image with 8.2 million pixels. :)

hey, this isnt about camera systems! :D im still going large-format in due time!


Jay, those are all white pixels, except for one blue pixel. My hot pixels are usually red or blue. Bernard, I await your reply.

Large format? I say start working out now! =B)

Cheers,
Norman

Thanks guys!

@ Diego - In my experience when in-cam noise reduction is on, the exposure won't be saved as the NR processing requires the same amount of time as the exposure. I experienced this a lot when using generic batteries, and stuck to OEM batteries for extreme weather and extremely long exposures.

@ Norman - This was taken with the cam's NR. I tried doing shorter multiple exposures, shoot a dark frame, then do a dark-frame subtraction in Photoshop but it's too much of a hassle especially when it's freezing outside.

@ Din - The farther you are from the cities, the clearer the skies get. The Cordilleras is one of the best places to stargaze, and the east coast of Luzon especially north of Baler.

I've always been fascinated with the night sky and if I were shooting Nikon I'd still be shooting startrails anyway regardless of noise.

http://www.bernardbilledo.com/gallery2/d/6750-2/si-070217-1644.jpg
Milford Sound - One of the wettest places on earth gets a rare treat with clear skies.
ISO 100, 58 minutes @ f/4

anyone know how to prevent moisture from building up in front the lens. I live in Baguio and I cant do an exposure for more than an hour. Danke

anyone know how to prevent moisture from building up in front the lens. I live in Baguio and I cant do an exposure for more than an hour. Danke
Wrap a heat shield or hand warmer around your lens. Moisture will build up at about 15 minutes after exposure in places when there's a lot of moisture in the air. The cheapest way is cover the lens with a black cloth and do a quick wipe of the front element every ten minutes.

HTH