The other night I sat for hours taking pictures of the stars, my plan of course was to stack them making a master piece. It turned out a disaster piece!
So my question to the amazing photographers that produce these beautiful star trail images...... How do you do it? and which stacking software do you use? Can you get that software free?
Please share your amazing star trail pics for us all to stare in awe at your work!
I just tried doing star trails last month... it didn't turn out as well as I wanted to but partly because I was impatient. This is what I got.
If I did the editing again I would smooth out the trails so they don't look like moorse code :P
I used the stack feature in photoshop (CS3) and then chose the "lighten" option in the layers.
I do know there is a "star trails" feature in the new CS5... not sure what that entails or if it is for merging images into star trails or just putting in fake ones...
I am trying the same effect when i have chance to see the stars. The camera will be Canon A640 point and shoot using the CHKD firmware mod that will be locked off somewhere so it can take the photographs over a period of hours then its a case of stack the images
@simplysnapped -- I've only been successful once, and it was challenging to say the least! Here is my capture. I believe this was 4 20-minute exposures.
I used the software on this link -- it takes all of the work out of it for you :)
I am copying Joe Ciras on this. reply @cirasj. Hopefully he can pipe in. M yunderstanding is that it takes about a 45 minute exposure, stopped down. Need a good strong tripod and no outside movement for that. Good luck!
Why do you have to stack? I thought it was just a stopped-down timed exposure. At least that's how I've always done it (with very limited success mind you).
I have gotten down to 30 sec exposures, in RAW, ISO 400, f/5 or 4.5, run the camera for about an hour. There are various ways to put them together, mainly PSE lighten style. Or there is a program whos name escapes me, as I am not on my main PC.
Yes, i intend to give this a try sometime. I recommend you to use a remote control, since it works with bulb. And a superb tripod (or a solid surface). Else, i don't know how to adjust the sky exposure. You cannot know exactly how it will turn out.
I know this is an older discussion, but I just did this last night for the first time. I read that it's better to do many short exposures, and then use a stacking software to stack them all for you. I did 127, thirty second exposures and used StarStax to put them together. I used a remote shutter release and actually clicked the clicker each time; I read later that some people use the "burst" mode on their camera (for sports action photography, ie) but put the exposure time at 30 seconds apiece. Then they go do something else while the camera does the work! However, I've also heard that the sensor can heat up and cause hot pixels or noise if you don't let it rest a few seconds between shots.
anyway, here is my result:
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
If I did the editing again I would smooth out the trails so they don't look like moorse code :P
I used the stack feature in photoshop (CS3) and then chose the "lighten" option in the layers.
I do know there is a "star trails" feature in the new CS5... not sure what that entails or if it is for merging images into star trails or just putting in fake ones...
BTW the picture above is AMAZING!!! :D
Well thats the plan
I used the software on this link -- it takes all of the work out of it for you :)
http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html
I have gotten down to 30 sec exposures, in RAW, ISO 400, f/5 or 4.5, run the camera for about an hour. There are various ways to put them together, mainly PSE lighten style. Or there is a program whos name escapes me, as I am not on my main PC.
http://www.markus-enzweiler.de/StarStaX/StarStaX.html#download
Here are some examples on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/starstax/
anyway, here is my result: