Star Trails - Please Help

TheNorthBank

Hi all, I love those really cool Star Trail pics and would love to start shooting them for myself. Could anybody give me any advice/tips/help on what I need to do to get started and most importantly, can I do it with my current equipment:
EOS 400D,
Kit Lens - 18-55 IS,
EF 70-200 f4 L,
A crappy EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM,
And a tripod.

If this gear won't cut it it what do I need to get started? Any advice or help on this subject would be very much appreciated, ie where? when? exposures? equipment? etc

Thank You.

PaulieC

your current gear is fine - you need a good solid tripod and a remote release too. Ideally you should use your kit lens at 18mm set to about F11. You will need to get about 100-120 30 second exposures plus a full black exposure (expose with the lens cap on) for the full 'circle'. You can download software from www.startrails.de and use this to composite them all together

whyulittle

Couple of problems these nights, it's cloudy and the moon is heading towards full moon. You'll need to get a remote release, rather than using the timer to avoid camera shake.

Try and find the darkest site you can, but with something in the foreground to shoot the trails against.

The pic below was made up from 20 shots, at 30 seconds each.

Benster

- Wrap up well
- Fully charge your battery, or bring a 2nd one, they can run out quickly in the cold
- Bring a torch to see the infinity mark on your lens barrel (I set it manually as I can't see if it's focused properly in the small viewfinder)
- Higher ISO will make the easily visible stars brighter but will also bring out those you can't normally see very well (it also gives more background noise in the darkness between them though)

kgiller

Isnt there a way of putting the camera onto the "bulb" setting and leaving it for like 30mins or something? or am i completely wrong?

GhostInTheRuins

kgiller wrote: »

Isnt there a way of putting the camera onto the "bulb" setting and leaving it for like 30mins or something? or am i completely wrong?

I'd like to know this too, is it possible to do this on a D60 without holding down the shutter manually for half an hour?

Shiny

kgiller wrote: »

Isnt there a way of putting the camera onto the "bulb" setting and leaving it for like 30mins or something? or am i completely wrong?

I think you have to have the camera release for this.
When it is attached you just leave it "switched on" so to speak.

13tsoptuo

Isnt there a way of putting the camera onto the "bulb" setting and leaving it for like 30mins or something? or am i completely wrong?

Yes but you'll need one of these gizmos:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Shutter-Release-Cable-for-Canon-EOS-5D-40D-30D-20D_W0QQitemZ140271184584QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item140271184584&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A2|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Cheap as chips on ebay. OP you have all the equipment you need except for a shutter release so grab one from ebay. With the bulb setting you usually have to hold the shutter down yourself for the desired time, but with this you can lock it down and leave it there for as long as you want. This is the traditional way of getting it done, but now people can use computer wizardry to get the same effect with like a hundred 30 second exposures. With these smaller exposures you get less noise in the photos and also you have less time for any light pollution to seep in.

I did it the original way, threw the shutter on and went in for a cup of tae and watched some tv. Came back out exactly 1465 (!) seconds later and closed the shutter. Got this, you've probably seen in in the random photos thread.



I had it at iso 200 I think @ 10mm. If you don't have somewhere warm to retreat to, defo bring a jacket and gloves.

whyulittle

What is your horizon like outpost? Can't figure out how you have Polaris so low that it is blocked with hedges.

13tsoptuo

Can't figure out how you have Polaris so low that it is blocked with hedges.

Heheh it's kind of strange to look at isn't it? I like it. What I did to get that effect is very simple (but not very obvious), but just before I tell, wanna take a guess at how it was done?

whyulittle

No, it's been doing my head in since I saw it first time!

digitalage

Have a read of this link, 'bulb' is the way to go...composite shots are too fidely especially working in the dark of the night. Also shoot wide open to reduce exposure times.

http://www.danheller.com/star-trails.html

Stephen

Would you not have problems with condensation on your lens when doing such long exposures at night at this time of year?

Shiny

Stephen wrote: »

Would you not have problems with condensation on your lens when doing such long exposures at night at this time of year?

Doesn't this only happen with sudden changes in temperature?

ie if you brought the cold camera into a warm house condensation
would form quite quickly.

I'm assuming once you are outside a while and the camera is the same
temperature there should be very little if any condensation.

13tsoptuo

whyulittle wrote: »

No, it's been doing my head in since I saw it first time!

Im pointing the camera almost straight up. The "hedge" is the overhang of a cliff!

Benster

Stephen wrote: »

Would you not have problems with condensation on your lens when doing such long exposures at night at this time of year?

Aha, tip I forgot to mention covers this. Bring a plastic bag out with you. When you're done, put the camera inside, squeeze most of the air out and tie it before you come in. Now leave it for half an hour to adjust to the house's ambient temperature and you should be ok.

I haven't really had much problems with condensation INSIDE the camera before, but I'm not about to risk ruining my considerable investment by not bothering with a plastic bag

B.

TheNorthBank

Hi all, just wanted to thank you all for your help and advice on this. I really didn't know where to begin with it but now I feel that once I get a remote shutter release I'll actually be able to give this a good go. And of course I'll post the results here.

whyulittle

If you can't get a remote release, I can drop a home made one into the post for you FOC, it's of no use to me anymore.

TJM

From my recent experiments (incorporating the advice from earlier in this thread - thanks folks):

1. Make sure battery is fully charged. Use lithium batteries if you have a choice. (NiMH die in no time.) Turn off in body noise reduction.
2. Choose manual mode, manual focus, set timer to 30s, lowest ISO available, widest aperture available, set drive mode to continuous.
3. Take one photo with lens cap on & eyepiece covered.
4. Frame and focus photo (ideally wide angle with Polaris in the scene somewhere and with some foreground interest). You may want to use some tape on the focus ring to ensure you don't knock the focus off inadvertently. Make sure the tripod is well secured - e.g. camera strap isn't flapping in wind. Take a test shot at high ISO to make sure of your framing & focus. Don't forget to drop back to lowest ISO.
5. Plug in remote shutter release, lock in on position. (Camera will take 30s exposures continuously as if you were holding down the shutter yourself.)
6. Go inside for a cup of tea.
7. Come out 20minutes or so later. Turn off remote shutter release.
8. Lens cap back on. Take another photo with eyepiece covered. This and the photo at step 3 will be used for noise reduction.
9. Download the great free application at http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html . Load the 40 or so 30s exposures. Load the two photos with lens cap on as dark frames. Press the startrails button. Enjoy.

You may find a single long exposure works better for you. I think this depends on the noise characteristics of your camera. For me (Pentax k100d) any exposure above about 10 minutes became unacceptably noisy, even with in body noise reduction on. It will also depend on how much background light you have in the scene. City lights on the horizon practically demand stacking multiple shorter exposures or their cumulative effect becomes too much over a single long exposure. The other problem with a single long exposure is that one mishap (e.g. car driving by with headlights on) can ruin your entire image - if stacking you can drop the offending shot.

High ISO or low? Again probably camera dependent. For me higher ISO worked only with stacking - not with a single long exposure.

Wider or narrower aperture? Unless you're having trouble with depth of field for the foreground I'd suggest sticking with the widest aperture available to bring out as many stars as possible.

20 minutes will give you a noticeable "circle" if you are pointing more or less directly north. 30/40 will obviously be better again. Pointing E/W/S will give you straight(ish) lines which mightn't be as interesting, but will also mean that the stars are moving faster in the sky so that you will only need shorter exposures for the same apparent length of trail.

Choose nights with a new moon if possible.

The images need some foreground to give them interest. If you are using the stacking method you can light paint the foreground during one of the 30s exposures to achieve the desired effect.