Photographing Star Trails

rich_g85 · 5 Jul 2006 at 18:52

Anyone managed to do this succesfully?

Here's an example of what I mean:

What are the chances of being able to acheive something similar with an EOS 300D, 18-55mm Lens and a tripod?

JBuk · 5 Jul 2006 at 18:56

shouldnt be too hard, the only thing i think that will make it difficult is getting a sky that remains clear enough to do a very long exposure

danza · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:06

Low ISO and a small apperture should help matters. Give it a go is all I can say!

Oh, and post your results!

AdWright · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:06

You will need somewhere with minimal light pollution as you have to leave the shutter open for a long period - hours for best effect. That being the case, minimal ISO is key (as are a tripod and charged batteries!)

SDK^ · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:06

You will need a remote shutter release that can be locked. They don't cost too much though.

AdWright · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:07

Here's a tutorial
http://weather-photography.com/techniques.php?cat=astronomy&page=startrails

JBuk · 5 Jul 2006 at 19:08

SDK^ said:
You will need a remote shutter release that can be locked. They don't cost too much though.

think I paid about £15 for mine off ebay

Raider · 5 Jul 2006 at 20:24

Yeah light pollution is the key. Somewhere nice and dark will do the trick

AdWright · 5 Jul 2006 at 20:26

Raider said:
Yeah light pollution is the key. Somewhere nice and dark will do the trick

and a clear night of course!

rich_g85 · 5 Jul 2006 at 20:46

SDK^ said:
You will need a remote shutter release that can be locked. They don't cost too much though.

Yep, one of those came with the camera. It's the Canon RS-60E3 Remote Switch, which has a 'Running Lock' facility which I assume will hold the shutter open as long as it's locked!

Thanks for all the advice guys, I will of course post my results - although it's looking less likely I'll get anything worthwhile tonight, as the sky is now 7/8ths overcast and thunderstorms are forecast for later on!

nomore · 5 Jul 2006 at 21:31

If you want to include a foreground that is lit up like in the example photo, it's probably worth using a ND filter too.

danza · 5 Jul 2006 at 22:45

Ah, another thing. Be careful of dew falling. You don't want your camera to get too damp!

Alex53 · 6 Jul 2006 at 08:23

The last photo in the weather-photography.com link above, with the caption 'This exposure was started with a large lens aperture (f/2.8), a few seconds later carefully reduced to f/16 to produce trails with the stars visible at one end.' is absolutely brilliant.

I have to try this now!

Wait, can you change the aperture during an exposure on a normal DSLR?

AdWright · 6 Jul 2006 at 09:51

You'll need an older lens where there is a separate ring for controlling aperture.

Alex53 · 6 Jul 2006 at 10:35

Hmm I have an old 50mm FD lens lying around that I used reversed for macro. No FD adapter though.

Ugley_Matt · 6 Jul 2006 at 10:58

Star trails are the easiest astronomical thing to take a picture off.
put the camera on a tripod and point it at the pole star.
Select the smallest aperture if you have a lot of light polution
Lock the shutter for a few minutes and see what you get.

Couple of little tips that i have picked up.

In order to remove the shake that opening the shutter, use a piece of card infront of the lens to start and stop the exposure.
Stars closer to the horizon will move quicker so if you want to check your settings try those ones first.
At this time of year it will be difficult to get anything other than the brightest stars and avoid looking towards the west.
Use wide angle lens and you might be lucky and get a meteor across your trails.

Ugley_Matt · 6 Jul 2006 at 10:59

Oh yeah, biggest bit of advice....

If there is a metor shower/eclise or some other big event it will always be cloudy.

Gregeff · 7 Jul 2006 at 15:06

had a go at this in the alps last week. I had a problem in that i did it from a bridge, which turned out not to be the most still platform in the world, so its a bit soft

also i didn't keep the shutter open long enough or use a small enough apeture!! But hey it was late and i wanted to get to bed!! I'll post the result later

themask70 · 7 Jul 2006 at 17:26

Well, give it a go

rich_g85 · 11 Jul 2006 at 22:54

Right then, it's a perfectly clear night over Yeovil - and look at that moon!

I'm going to give this a go tonight... the only thing I need advice on is, the other night I did a dummy run but in the dark with nothing to focus on, the shutter wouldn't open. What do I need to do, to 'force' the shutter to open?

Also, should I set the lens at 18 or 55mm?

Thanks