I really really want to give this a shot again. I tried the other day and it got a little too cloudy so didn't work out very well. Anyways one thing I did run into was that it was all very bright SOOC, I couldn't even see the stars at all. The sky was bright, the object in the foreground was bright and it took quite a bit of PP work to bring it down to an 'acceptable' level where you could even see the stars really. Am I doing something wrong or are star trails just not something that will look pretty SOOC?
ETA: I do also live in a city and there are always lights on so maybe that's part of the 'problem'?
For a decent pic you want to go for about a 30 second exposure at ASA 400 or so.
You want about 2-300 exposures, which you then stack.
Using a lot of short exposure shots gives a sharper image with much less 'noise' and is the way to go if you want a really good shot.
You can do this in photoshop etc - but it's a pain.
Easiest way is to use the Star Trail stacking software that Achim Schaller developed (and which, because he's a good guy) you can get for free from his website www.startrails.de
(if the page comes up in German just click on the GB flag)
His page also gives you a lot of info and hints.
Good luck with them - look forward to seeing some..
@styru I should have mentioned the method I was trying was just a long exposure. I'm really not sure about the stacking images thing-maybe I'm too lazy but it's kind of intimidating to me.
@angelamarie1437 - then the answer is a decent tripod, lens at it's sweet spot aperture and a bit of patience - reasonable pics can be got this way - but if you get the 'bug' then stacking really is the way forward.
oh, and if your camera has a noise reduction setting - make sure it is off.
You can do it with or without stacking. If you have a high-end camera and you don't want to go too long (over 30 minutes or so) then you can get very acceptable results without stacking.
I think the problem with your shot from the 18th was as you already suspected -- too much light from the city. You mention it was a cloudy night, which is the worst conditions -- the clouds reflect the light from the city back down to ground.
Your settings look about right, so I'd try it again on a very clear night, and ideally in a darker location. Once you get happy with doing a single exposure, you can start playing with stacking etc. (if you want).
Without stacking:
(You can see in this shot how the very thin and wispy clouds at the bottom of the shot are causing the stars to be almost overwhelmed by the city lights, despite the 'city' here being 30-40 miles away)
With stacking:
@alisonp Thanks for finding that link! Good luck tonight, let me know if you have any questions!
@abirkill you are the king of star trails and night skies! Have you ever had images published in Astronomy magazine or Discover or Science or the like?
@jsw0109 Thanks Jeff! I have to say I haven't, being a computer geek I tend to focus on online outlets, but a lot of people still do read magazines (both offline and online). I need to do some research into whether getting published in a magazine would be a violation of my Getty Images contract, too...
@abirkill if its not a violation, you should try to get some published. I've seen less stellar photos in those magazines than what you take so I can't imagine yours would get turned down.
@abirkill you are welcome ~ I love your night sky work and one day hope to be a fraction as good ~ last night went well, although I think it would of been better had someone turned the moon light off :-) I was positioned in a car park near a pond high on a hill with no sign of the nearby lights form towns.
I tried for star trails and milky way...
The star trails were a sort of success ~ I got small trails, but 15 minutes into the long exp. the clouds came and spoiled that idea. but the technique worked so at least I know I was doing something right. I then tried the 30s exp. x 60 but again the clouds come and spoiled that at 25th shot ~ upon stacking in the star program there was a wobble at some point and the although the sky was darker than method one I think I prefer the first method.
The milky way attempts less successful ~ the widest aperture I have is on the kit lens at 18mm so not ideal I guess. I tried using the high ISO between 3200 and 6400 at 3.5 f/stop but was getting very pink light skies ~ perhaps because of the moon light? or maybe i wasn't as far away from light pollution as I thought. I adjusted both ISO and f/stop and got some clear night sky shots but nothing near a sky full of stars as in the pink sky shots.
Thank you for the inspiration and the blog ~ I WILL be trying again :-)
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For a decent pic you want to go for about a 30 second exposure at ASA 400 or so.
You want about 2-300 exposures, which you then stack.
Using a lot of short exposure shots gives a sharper image with much less 'noise' and is the way to go if you want a really good shot.
You can do this in photoshop etc - but it's a pain.
Easiest way is to use the Star Trail stacking software that Achim Schaller developed (and which, because he's a good guy) you can get for free from his website www.startrails.de
(if the page comes up in German just click on the GB flag)
His page also gives you a lot of info and hints.
Good luck with them - look forward to seeing some..
......................................................................
Feeling Blue - my 365 Click HERE
oh, and if your camera has a noise reduction setting - make sure it is off.
.......................................................
Feeling Blue - my 365 Click HERE
I think the problem with your shot from the 18th was as you already suspected -- too much light from the city. You mention it was a cloudy night, which is the worst conditions -- the clouds reflect the light from the city back down to ground.
Your settings look about right, so I'd try it again on a very clear night, and ideally in a darker location. Once you get happy with doing a single exposure, you can start playing with stacking etc. (if you want).
Without stacking:
(You can see in this shot how the very thin and wispy clouds at the bottom of the shot are causing the stars to be almost overwhelmed by the city lights, despite the 'city' here being 30-40 miles away)
With stacking:
@alisonp Thanks for finding that link! Good luck tonight, let me know if you have any questions!
I tried for star trails and milky way...
The star trails were a sort of success ~ I got small trails, but 15 minutes into the long exp. the clouds came and spoiled that idea. but the technique worked so at least I know I was doing something right. I then tried the 30s exp. x 60 but again the clouds come and spoiled that at 25th shot ~ upon stacking in the star program there was a wobble at some point and the although the sky was darker than method one I think I prefer the first method.
The milky way attempts less successful ~ the widest aperture I have is on the kit lens at 18mm so not ideal I guess. I tried using the high ISO between 3200 and 6400 at 3.5 f/stop but was getting very pink light skies ~ perhaps because of the moon light? or maybe i wasn't as far away from light pollution as I thought. I adjusted both ISO and f/stop and got some clear night sky shots but nothing near a sky full of stars as in the pink sky shots.
Thank you for the inspiration and the blog ~ I WILL be trying again :-)