star trails

[patriciaann1]

I am going away to a national Park called Wilson Prom down here in Aussie and as it is far away from city lights intruding we are going to attempt to do star trails...we have not had luck so far as they just seem to be overexposed shots, can someone advise me on settings to use

thanks

Pat

[Bob B]

I'm glad that you are going to take some star trails.
You did not mention what type of camera you use.
Does it have a maximum time exposure setting such as 15 seconds or is it unlimited. ?
What lens will you be using?
When a high iso setting is used does the photo have a lot of noise (grainy appearance )?
This website might be helpful Photographing Star Trails
Sometimes photos which are slightly over exposed can be fixed with post processing.

[patriciaann1]

Hi Bob

I have a Can30d and a 5d mk11, i was thinking of using the 30d with a 10-22 lens, i also have a 17-40 i could use on the 5d...i have heard if there is a full moon it wont work and also clouds can affect it...but that is my gear i use

Pat

[Bob B]

Originally Posted by patriciaann1

Hi Bob

I have a Can30d and a 5d mk11, i was thinking of using the 30d with a 10-22 lens, i also have a 17-40 i could use on the 5d...i have heard if there is a full moon it wont work and also clouds can affect it...but that is my gear i use

Pat

You have excellent equipment for the task. I encourage you to read this link. Star Trails Tutorial - FM Forums Many times star trails are made by taking short exposures and later using stacking software to connect. The time interval between each exposure must be as short as possible to avoid broken star trails. If the Moon is out go with shorter time exposures. Perform test shots perhaps 5 - 20 seconds each and see if the background stays dark if the Moon is out. You might need to take many photos and stack/ stitch them. I don't now the maximum number of photos that the stacking software can handle. . Feel free to ask questions after you read the link
Stacking software is here http://www.startrails.de/ . There are other programs available.

[patriciaann1]

a friend and i purchased helicon focus that allows you to install on 4 p.c.s so we shared it..

I tried it on a train coming into the subway station with 13 shots, but the result was not so great, I think the train should have been going faster, all trial and error for me which is the beauty of digital photography. Thanks for your info

Pat

[Douglas]

Originally Posted by Bob B

You have excellent equipment for the task. I encourage you to read this link. Star Trails Tutorial - FM Forums Many times star trails are made by taking short exposures and later using stacking software to connect. The time interval between each exposure must be as short as possible to avoid broken star trails. If the Moon is out go with shorter time exposures. Perform test shots perhaps 5 - 20 seconds each and see if the background stays dark if the Moon is out. You might need to take many photos and stack/ stitch them. I don't now the maximum number of photos that the stacking software can handle. . Feel free to ask questions after you read the link
Stacking software is here www.Startrails.de-Home . There are other programs available.

The first link didnt go into much detail, or I didnt understand it, on how to get the solid images. The sky full of stars and color. The ones the photographer made those mini movies with where the sky moved, but not in a way with star trails. At first I was thinking motorized camera mount, but the buildings never moved. So that couldnt be it. Or was just using 2.8 at 3200 iso for 5 min enough to bring out all that detail in the sky?

[Bob B]

Originally Posted by Douglas

The first link didnt go into much detail, or I didnt understand it, on how to get the solid images. The sky full of stars and color. The ones the photographer made those mini movies with where the sky moved, but not in a way with star trails. At first I was thinking motorized camera mount, but the buildings never moved. So that couldnt be it. Or was just using 2.8 at 3200 iso for 5 min enough to bring out all that detail in the sky?

When the stars move and the buildings don't you are seeing many single images which are now being played back consecutively just like a video camcorder. The camera settings were adequate to record the stars without over exposing the background too much.

Second, If different software is used those same images can be stitched (sometimes called stacking ) which would create star trails.

Third, those images could be stacked which would create pinpoint stars but the buildings would be blurred because the software would align each star compensating for the Earth's rotation.

When you see 32x 5 minute exposures it means each exposure was 5 minutes and 32 exposures were taken.

[Douglas]

Understood the 5x32 thing for the movie. But was just confused on if just those basic settings would yield, even in a single frame, that much detail in the sky.