so I drove around and around trying to find a nice place to shoot, star trails, preferably somewhere where I could sit in the car with tripod next to car for the duration of the exposure. I found myself on dirt roads and was going to give up, but the night sky was lovely, so in he end I stopped on a deserted dirt road, parked the car and set the tripod up behind the car. I listened to a talking book on my kindle and played Angry Birds on my phone, but in the end sitting in the dark was too creepy and that 35 mins would be long enough. I look now and wish I had found an interesting feature on the ground, and I still need to get the camera settings right, and figure out which direction is south, but all in all, I am pleased with this 35 minute exposure
awesome pic! & yes, you get the award for patience! Thank you for including your explanation for "newbies" like me. I would have never expected to wait 35 minutes for a photo! :)
Well I spend about 20 hours a week shooting star trail photos. I can tell you if at all possible shoot 1600 ISO and the widest aperture you have. If you find ambient light from street lamps or light pollution is too bright, start working your ISO down. I typically shoot 800 ISO at f/4 where I live.
I typically stay two hours, though I sometimes camp all night shooting 8-10 light trails. I find it fun! This is a great attempt here, but I agree that you need to find a foreground object to anchor your photo.
Great star trail. It does take some patience. South is by the southern cross their is an app called Star Walk on iTunes and that is great for navigating the night sky. Hope this helps.
@jasonbarnette thanks for your supportive comments, I love doing star trails, and had a great place to do it but was too scared to sit out there alone in the dark, I think I'll have to acquire some camping gear and a brave friend and do some more
@jasonbarnette@lbmcshutter - I do like how Jason mentions street lamps, and knowing Streaky Bay as well as I do, this gives me a chuckle. My namesake, there's not much chance of light pollution out there! And yeah Megan, you are brave to do this out on your own!
Thank you both for your tips, I might have to give this a go one day, but a night-time sky void of clods is a rare event in the tropics...
December 10th, 2011
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
I typically stay two hours, though I sometimes camp all night shooting 8-10 light trails. I find it fun! This is a great attempt here, but I agree that you need to find a foreground object to anchor your photo.
Thank you both for your tips, I might have to give this a go one day, but a night-time sky void of clods is a rare event in the tropics...