Tip 951 (Heating up of the sensor): A digital camera is not the same thing as a film camera. When you had a film camera, and you opened the shutter for long exposures, all the camera did was to expose the chemicals on the film to light, and did nothing else. However, in the case of digital cameras, you have a sensor doing all the work, and this sensor is a piece of electronic wizardry (but it is still electronic). So, you might have considered keeping the shutter open for very long intervals of time (an hour or more). However, because it is an electronic item that is working through the entire time when the shutter is open, the sensor will get hot. This causes an increased level of noise on the photos. If you find that your camera is showing these kind of problems, then consider the option of taking multiple exposures and then combining them using software. And what better software than Photoshop to do all such wizardry on the computer. Get your copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5 now.
Tip 952 (Using a wide angle lens): Once a person asked me in a very simple way – if you leave the shutter open for so long, then the star trails should be so easily caught. I thought over this for 5 seconds and then told him, if I leave the shutter open for a long time but the object that I am shooting is not at the same place and is not very bright, then the shot will not come. The same for star trails. The star position can be dim, and it does not remain in the same, moving to cause the trail. To get as much light as possible, you should open your shutter as much as possible, and hence use an aperture of f/2.8 rather than f/11 for such shots.
Tip 953 (Use manual focus): In most cases, you should set the focus to infinity, and that is after setting the focus type to manual rather than automatic (so that the focus does not change). However, if you are having some object in the foreground, then the focus should be on that object and not on infinity (which is supposed to approximate the position of the stars).
Tip 954 (Do some test shots): You would not really want to put the camera out for 90 minutes and find out that some setting was wrong, or the position was incorrect, or some other problem that ruined the photo. Instead, take a couple of test shots, anywhere between 2-5 minutes long, and view those test shots to see how they are turning out.
Tip 955 (Turn off image stabilization settings on the lens): Image stabilization is not required when the camera is already on a tripod, and in fact, can consume some needed battery power as well.
Some video tutorials from Youtube:
During The Shoot Episode 1: Star Trail Photography
Star Trails Photography
How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers
Aputure Timer Camera Remote Control Shutter Cable
The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing
Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – A View of Star Trails
Tip 946 (Check the weather): This is critical. If you are going to have rain, clouds, or even fog, there goes the chance of being able to see star trails. Be very careful, and remember these conditions can also be very harmful for your camera.
Tip 947 (Time lapse movie): You might have seen some of these time lapse movies. The idea is to take a number of photographs, in the same position of the camera, and then compose them into the form of a video using a number of software that can take images and string them into a movie. The movie can show the movement of the star trails, and when you have got the image, the light and the background right, can look to be an absolutely fascinating movie.
Tip 948 (Ignore the light meter of the camera): You might be habituated to using the light meter on the camera for measuring exposure. But for such photos, the light meter is no good, it cannot do any calculation that involves many minutes of capturing light through an open shutter. A lot of the exposure calculation depends on the ambient conditions, and on experimentation.
Tip 949 (Expanding the battery for such conditions): The sensors in digital cameras can consumer a fair amount of power, so it is important that you know the battery availability in your camera vs. the amount of time the shutter will remain open. If you have a power adaptor and way to keep a regular supply of power, you should go for it.
Tip 950 (Make dotted star trails): If you want to make your star trails more interesting, experiment with how the star trails are being captured. One easy thing you can do is to take a black cardboard and hold it in front of the lens for 30 sec to 1 minute. This will create star trails where there are gaps between the trails, and this can look more interesting.
Some video tutorials from Youtube:
During The Shoot Episode 1: Star Trail Photography
Star Trails Photography
How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers
Aputure Timer Camera Remote Control Shutter Cable
The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing
Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – A View of Star Trails
Tip 941 (Lens can get fogged up): In many cases, you may under-estimate the cold conditions that you will face. In such cases, it is important to ensure that your lens does not get fogged up. You can use some Grabber Hand Warmers for this purpose. These can do a great job of ensuring that the lens does not get fogged.
Tip 942 (Width of lens determines the amount of time needed): A star trail is formed when the star apparently begins to move in the night sky. This in turn is dependent on the focal length of the lens, with the wider the lens, the more time it takes for the star to show an apparent movement in the sky. Some of this measurement is something that you will have to find out for yourself by experimenting with different focal lengths.
Tip 943 (Capturing star trails can be boring): When you are trying to capture star trails, remember that such photos can take a large amount of time. I have known people struggle to stay awake when such photos are being taken, and some of them nod off. Now, what you should do is either have company or take some other material to ensure that you have something to do while the photo is being taken.
Tip 944 (Using minimum ISO): When setting the camera for the shoot, be sure to set it to the lowest ISO possible (100 in most cases). This reduces to a minimum, any noise in the final photo.
Tip 945 (Find the position of the poles): Keep in mind that the earth rotates around the poles (north or south), and so the stars will seem to form trails around the point where the poles are located. If you trying to position the curve of the star trails in your photos related to some object in the image (such as a building, or tree, or something else), then you need to be sure that you know where the poles are located in the sky. Use a Planisphere Star & Constellation Finder for this purpose.
Some video tutorials from Youtube:
During The Shoot Episode 1: Star Trail Photography
Star Trails Photography
How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers
Aputure Timer Camera Remote Control Shutter Cable
The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing
Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – A View of Star Trails
Tip 936 (Understanding what causes star trails): You see those beautiful star trails, and it seems like the movement of stars causes the whole beautiful effect. In fact, what your open camera shutter (and the sensor inside) captures is the movement of the earth, since the stars are stationary, while the movement of the earth causes the apparent movement of the stars.
Tip 937 (Make sure that you account for extra cold): This is less of a photography tip, but something very important. Most of the time, when you are trying to shoot star trails, this will be in a more open area, and at night, or at a place at a certain height. These places will be colder than your regular habitation, so keep some extra warm clothes.
Tip 938 (Stay away from civilization): Unless you are capturing the star trails against some sort of building, keep away from any places with a lot of light. You do not realize the amount of ambient light in a city unless you start taking such photos. The ambient light in a city can totally drown out the light of the stars and making the trails in your photo not easy to capture.
Tip 939 (Setting the focus to infinity): If you are not using an object in your photo (such as an old building or a tree or something else that forms the foreground (with the star trails appearing in the background)), then it is safe to simply set the focus in your photos to infinity. This also makes logical sense since the stars on which you are apparently focusing on are very far away indeed.
Tip 940 (Do not have any light source in your photo): For taking star trails, the composition of your photo should not (and repeat not) have any kind of light source in the photo (even of this is a surface that reflects light from someplace else), since such a light source will cause the photo to get blown out because of the long exposure of the photo.
Some video tutorials from Youtube:
During The Shoot Episode 1: Star Trail Photography
Star Trails Photography
How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers
Aputure Timer Camera Remote Control Shutter Cable
The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing
Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – A View of Star Trails
Tip 931 (Keep the camera stable, use a tripod or something stable): This seems like a very obvious item for somebody who has shot star trails, but I keep on getting astounded at the number of people who want to shoot star trails and then don’t have a tripod. A star trail captures the movement of stars in the night sky, and this will take time, so you need to keep the camera stable and not moving for that entire period of time, which is why you need a tripod.
Tip 932 (You need to have a camera that allows the settings for a star trail): Using a point and shoot camera that does not allow you to manipulate its settings can make it difficult to shoot star trails. Typically, you need a camera where the shutter can be kept open for long periods of time (the Bulb (B)) mode. Typically, you should be able to capture the focusing of your camera (that is, it should not be a auto-focus only camera). Similarly, the camera batteries should be able to power the camera for the desired time (older batteries sometimes are not able to retain charge for long intervals).
Tip 933 (Adjust the tripod as per the camera): I saw this happen once. A person thought he had everything, including his trusty tripod. He forgot that he had borrowed a better (and heavier) SLR camera along with a good wide lens (which was also heavy), and his tripod was just not able to keep the camera stable enough in the light wind that was blowing.
Tip 934 (Get a shutter release): If your camera has a shutter release, get it. A camera release is invaluable when you have to keep the shutter release of your camera open for a long interval. You will never regret it.
Tip 935 (Check for when the moon is almost gone): When shooting star trails, you should try and ensure that there is as little light in the sky as possible (besides the twinkle of the starts themselves). You can be sure that if you are shooting when the moon is large and bright, it can overshadow a lot of objects in the night sky.
Some video tutorials from Youtube:
During The Shoot Episode 1: Star Trail Photography
Star Trails Photography
How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers
Aputure Timer Camera Remote Control Shutter Cable
The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing
Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals – A View of Star Trails
for this purpose. These can do a great job of ensuring that the lens does not get fogged.
for this purpose.
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