Star Trail Frustrations!!

13 years 3 months ago #21789 by Richmorrisphotography
Hi Pt

I have had a few attempts at taking long night exposures to capture star trails with not a great deal of luck!! Please, please can someone tell me the trick to this??

I undertsand a min exposure length of 3 hrs is needed and to get a circle the camera needs to point north, i also have been setting the ISO to 100.

All i end up with is an over exposed shot with dull stars. Please help?

Thanks


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13 years 3 months ago #21798 by Baydream

Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork

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13 years 3 months ago - 13 years 3 months ago #21799 by Karl Wertanen
This might help as well....
www.thenocturnes.com/resources.html
Are you shooting somewhere where there is alot of light pollution?... like around populated areas?
The following user(s) said Thank You: Richmorrisphotography
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13 years 3 months ago #21811 by Lucky One
Good information. I have been looking at getting into astrophotography. Currently been looking on Ebay and Craigslist for a good priced telescope that I can connect my camera to.


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13 years 3 months ago #21813 by Richmorrisphotography
Thanks for your replies, great info in both of the links.

I thnk the mistake i am making is shooting when the moon is in the sky, am i right in thinking the stars will be brighter (and the sky darker) when there is no moon?


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13 years 3 months ago #21821 by Karl Wertanen
Yea, definitely NO moon in the sky.. and get as far away from any city, town, or large factory that will give off any light. Also, if you are near an airport, stay away from the aircraft flight paths. You'll get either a continuous line or a dashed line running across your sky and it wont be the stars lol. :huh:

Also, from what i've read, apertures f/5.6 to 2.8 get the best results. :thumbsup:

I've been researching night time photography as well. I've never really tried it until just recently in the snow and they've turned out quite well. When i saw how nice they turned out, I was hooked. Now i'm reading up on it quite a bit . Night time photography opens up a whole new world of photographic possibilities. :silly:

Once you get your stars down, grab your remote flash or a spot light and start lighting foreground objects to make for even more interesting landscapes.

Let us know how they turn out! I'd love to see them!
The following user(s) said Thank You: Richmorrisphotography
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13 years 3 months ago #22027 by effron
Here is another great site.....
www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/TOC_AP.HTM

Why so serious?
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