Star Trails from 3/6

I’m getting better at this.

Taken with the TR-M intervalometer from Satechi set to 40 second exposures (168 total images stacked with startrails software). ISO 400, F 3.5, 18-105mm Nikon kit lens at 18mm.

Comments

  1. Wow fantastic image. Look like a lot of work went into it. Love the result!
    .-= Adam Cavanagh´s last blog ..Melissa & Campbell Wedding | St John’s Uniting Church Wahroonga | Mona Vale Golf Club | =-.

  2. # 1 fan says:

    I think you nailed it with this one…. perfectly centered (again, great work or getting the north star right over your property, lol) and I really like the different colors in the star trails and the contrast of bare and green trees. Nice.

  3. Ryan @ Metacom Creative says:

    Wow! This is another great shot. I think it’s safe to say you are really starting to develop a knack for this technique!

    Maybe this is the motivation I need to look into trying some of these myself..
    .-= [email protected] Creative´s last blog ..Hikes, Photo’s, Interviews, Wordle.. Updates! =-.

  4. Unbelievable. This is can be made into conceptual illustration. 40 second exposure is amazing. How did you manage to get it with minimal shake. I know 40 is not that bad, but still would like to know your thought process on this one. hope you would share it with us.

  5. James says:

    @Benjamin – the intervalometer I mention in the original post can be programmed to open and close the shutter at preset intervals.

    I put the camera on a tripod, then set the camera to lift the mirror one second prior to capturing each 40 second image. Because the mirror lifts early, any trace of shake that might otherwise be present in the picture is eliminated.

  6. LVP says:

    Perfect Capture for a Star Trails you have here. If your doing meteor or star trails photography, a photographer must be patient and alert.
    Good Work thank you for sharing
    .-= las vegas photography´s last blog ..MG Studio 2010 Now Open =-.

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  7. dmitri yakimov @ destination wedding photography says:

    Why trees are lit? You used a flash, or focus lighting?

    The image is superb! Always wanted to try like that, but never did :)
    .-= dmitri [email protected] wedding photography´s last blog ..Cool wedding pictures =-.

  8. James says:

    Dmitri, Good question. I shined a small flashlight on the forest and waved it around all the areas that are lit for the first three frames. Startrails.exe has a function where you tell it which images have your foreground material, and then it combines those frames (in this case, the first three) to create what will be the foreground for all the images.

    I didn’t realize how much of the forest was showing up in this shot, or I would have tried to do a better job painting all of the trees with light.

  9. Wow, that is an amazing photo. Are you going to sell it?
    Kathleen Woods recently posted Westfield Indiana

  10. James Lee says:

    Sure – wanna buy it? :)

    I haven’t begun selling photos – yet. So far, I’ve just given them away. I’m still learning this craft. Over time, I will begin posting some of my stuff to some of the stock photo sites.

    Thanks for stopping by!

  11. # 1 fan says:

    Huh… who’ve you given them to…. huh, huh?….. I know someone who has hinted, begged, suggested, asked, and practically pleaded but nada, zip, zero, nothing…. so who should I be jealous of…. ??!! LOL (lots of love)

  12. great photo! tough task to do on the long exposure

  13. Mark @ skin tag removal says:

    How did you do this? The spiral thing above the trees in the middle of the night is very fantastic. I know this is not real but I want to know the details as to what you have done to capture this fascinating picture.

  14. Samuel Burns @ Sydney wedding photography says:

    Wow, this is an awesome shot, worth the effort!

  15. david @ Toner Cartridges Houston says:

    Wow that’s an awesome image. I am really intrigued and curious about how this was done. I know a little about Photosjhop and am not even sure I could re-create this image falsely. Great Work!!!

  16. Helena @ stop sweating says:

    Awesome, I wish I could make the same photos however I don’t understand how to do it:(((

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