How to Photograph Star Trails

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Wait for a clear sky.

   You will need a clear view of the sky to take a good star trail photo.
   
   Check the weather forecast for your location ahead of time.
   
   Only go on a clear (cloudless) night.
   
   Also, be sure that there are no other obstructions (such as a forest canopy) blocking your view of the stars., Getting away from artificial light is not always enough to eliminate light pollution.
   
   A bright moon can cast enough light to interfere with you photo, and make the stars hard to find.
   
   Plan ahead of time to go out on a night when moonlight is negligible (a new moon is the best)., You want to reduce any interference (known as noise) with your picture.
   
   This means eliminating as many light sources as possible.
   
   Go away from cities and find a remote location with no artificial lights., Old buildings or monuments can make an interesting foreground for your star trail photo.
   
   You can also place natural formations such as mountains, trees, or caves in the picture.
   
   Having an interesting landmark will give the picture more more substance and make it more captivating., First and foremost, you need a steady camera to take a shot.
   
   To achieve this, attach the camera to a steady tripod base.
   
   Lock the base into place and take care not to hit or bump the base as you move around the site.Though you can use film, digital cameras lend themselves better to photographing star trails.
   
   With a digital camera you can choose to do one long exposure or overlay several quick pictures, and you can see the photo(s) before leaving the site of the shot. , Decide what elements will be in the shot (e.g. stars, cabin, and truck).
   
   Arrange the elements so that they are balanced in relation to one another.
   
   You can look through the camera periodically as you compose the shot.
   
   This will help you see what the shot looks like within the frame of the picture., If you are using a camera with auto-focus, allow the camera to focus one time.
   
   Once the camera is focused, switch the settings to manual focus.
   
   This will prevent the camera from attempting to auto-focus repeatedly as you go.If your camera doesn't auto-focus, you will have to bring the camera into focus manually by adjusting the focal length of the lens. , Cool colors include blues, greens, greys, and purples..
   
   Adjusting the heat of a photo will give the picture a tint of warmer or cooler colors.
   
   Adjust the warmth at your discretion., A remote trigger on a cable makes it easier to do both long exposure shots and a series of shots in short succession.
   
   Most cables can be locked so that the trigger stays in place until you release it.
   
   This saves you from having to keep your finger on the camera the for the duration of the exposure.Alternatively, you could tape down the shutter button. , If you have interesting foreground elements, they may be hard for the camera to pick up in the dark.
   
   If this is the case, shine a light on the foreground elements.
   
   Use as little light as possible to make them look great.
   
   If you don’t have photography lights, use a flashlight.You can add filters to your light to cast different colored lights onto the foreground. , There are two methods for taking photographs of star trails.
   
   You can take one photo or a series of photos.
   
   There are pros and cons to each of the following approaches:
   Take one long exposure shot.
   
   In this case, you would use a very long exposure time (sometimes several hours), which would introduce a lot of noise into the picture.
   
   The upside is that you would have one single picture of star trails throughout the night.
   
   Take a serious of short exposure shots.
   
   You can take many shots (sometimes hundreds) over the course of the night and use a program to “stack” the shots.
   
   This reduces noise, but requires you to combine hundreds of shots to form on picture of star trails. , Bulb mode, also known as continuous shooting mode, is a setting that allows your camera to continue shooting until you remove your hand from the trigger.
   
   This is necessary for long exposure pictures, or taking large sets of short exposure pictures.Use a 30 second exposure time when taking a series of images. , The ISO setting determines how sensitive the camera is to light.
   
   The suggested ISO changes based on whether you are taking a long shot or a series of short shots.
   
   For a long exposure shot, set your ISO to around
   200.
   
   For a series of shots, try setting the ISO to roughly
   800., The aperture allows light to pass into the camera.
   
   Opening and closing it controls the amount of light that passes through.
   
   When taking a star trail photo, you want to open the aperture fully so that the maximum amount of light comes through., Once you compose the shot and set up the camera, all that is left is to shoot the picture.
   
   Press down the trigger at the end of the cable.
   
   Lock the trigger until the camera has had the desired exposure time or taken the desired number of pictures.
   
   Then, release the trigger to stop., If you have a digital camera, you can look at the picture before you leave the site.
   
   If the picture looks blurry or has obvious signs of interference, you can retake the shot.
   
   Look around for any light sources or other disturbances that could affect your shot.For example, you might be using an electronic device that gives off enough light to affect the shot you took. , You can download software to edit digital pictures for free.
   
   There are also paid versions, such as Adobe Photoshop.
   
   Choose the software with the features and price that you want and download it.StarStaX is a commonly used program to edit and combine photos.
   
   If you are not using a digital camera, you will need to develop the film or send it off to be developed., Once you have an editing program ready, you’ll need to import the pictures.
   
   Connect your camera to the computer via USB cord.
   
   If your camera uses a portable memory device (e.g.
   
   SD card), you can remove the device and plug it into your computer.
   
   Select the pictures you want to use from the memory and upload them to the software program. , If you chose to do a series of images, the first thing you will need to do is stack them.
   
   When you tell the program to stack your images, it will layer them one on top of the other to form one picture.
   
   Then, use the healing brush and other features to remove imperfections in the pictures.If you took one long exposure image, you do not have to do the stacking step.
   
   Go straight to the other features.
   
   For example, you might adjust the brightness of the picture or use the healing brush to hide an unwanted spot on the picture.
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   Step 2: Account for moonlight.

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   Step 3: Find a dark location.

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   Step 4: Search for interesting landmarks.

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   Step 5: Place the camera on a sturdy base.

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   Step 6: Compose the shot.

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   Step 7: Focus your camera.

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   Step 8: Manage the ‘heat.’ Warm colors include reds

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   Step 9: yellows

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    Step 10: and oranges.

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    Step 11: Install a cable.

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    Step 12: Add lighting to the foreground if needed.

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    Step 13: Choose an exposure method.

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    Step 14: Select bulb mode.

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    Step 15: Set the ISO.

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    Step 16: Open the aperture fully.

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    Step 17: Take the picture.

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    Step 18: Troubleshoot to eliminate noise.

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    Step 19: Download editing software.

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    Step 20: Import the picture(s).

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    Step 21: Polish the photo(s) to create a final image.

Detailed Guide

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