Reading mode: Light Dark

star trails first attempts

Go to last post
P

postpurchase

Active member
Messages
83
Reaction score
0
Location
US
I learned alot from searching the forums on this technique! What great fun!

taken with 20d, 10-22@10, shutter release cable and a 20$ tripod @iso400 and stacked in cs2.

here are a few stacks:

19 30s exposures



78 30s exposures:



146 30s exposures:



-Matt
 
You have broke my want for th 10-22, it will take a long time to get a full circle at 10mm, I can do that.
--
-- Jerry
 
"You have broke my want for th 10-22, it will take a long time to get a full circle at 10mm, I can do that."

hate to dissapoint... but I think you can only get a full circle at or near the North or South pole in the dead of winter...

burrrrrr!
 
Very nice! I like them.

But why stack multiple exposures? Have you tried a single long exposure?

--
If stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?
 
running too long of an exposure will eventually cause a lot of noise and heat issues in the sensor. Like film, long exposure (like hours of time) can be problematic. So you stack a bunch of shorter ones.

if I'm off on this, please correct me. Thanks
 
Take em' and stack em'.

Follows is a 15 each x 30 second exposure from a Nikon 950 years ago, this is way worse at noise than the current Nikon or Canon cameras, it is not that difficult to do.Not bad, NOT the best I have seen but I did it with less than $500.00 worth of equip....
http://www.daphnis.com/photo/albums/userpics/10001/M42-18-IPa.jpg
dbrostrain said:
running too long of an exposure will eventually cause a lot of
noise and heat issues in the sensor. Like film, long exposure
(like hours of time) can be problematic. So you stack a bunch of
shorter ones.

if I'm off on this, please correct me. Thanks
Click to expand...
--
-- Jerry
 
Well, North pole it is then...... really how far cn you go?

This is approximately 50 minutes/15mm @ 041 54.782 N x 103 44.502 W - western Nebraska.

http://www.daphnis.com/photo/albums/userpics/10001/Star-Trails_0185.jpg
postpurchase said:
"You have broke my want for th 10-22, it will take a long time to
get a full circle at 10mm, I can do that."

hate to dissapoint... but I think you can only get a full circle at
or near the North or South pole in the dead of winter...

burrrrrr!
Click to expand...
--
-- Jerry
 
Where could a fellow go to read more about stacking?

Thanks,
KDT
 
dbrostrain said:
running too long of an exposure will eventually cause a lot of
noise and heat issues in the sensor. Like film, long exposure
(like hours of time) can be problematic. So you stack a bunch of
shorter ones.

if I'm off on this, please correct me. Thanks
Click to expand...
Well I've made quite a few 1 hour star trail exposures myself with no problems with my 350D.

Just wondering if there would be much difference???

Staking for a star trail sounds like a lot more hassle than one single exposure.

--
If stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?
 
kiwi wrote:
"Very nice! I like them.

But why stack multiple exposures? Have you tried a single long exposure?"

Thanks kiwi; I had come across your star trail photos previously and was really impressed.

Why stack:

1. I tried two long exposures one at about 30mins at iso 200, and another at about 45mins at iso 400. The pictures came out looking nice overall but, when viewed closely had literally thousands of small white pixel noise, really so many that it was not feasible to clone them out. Also I wasn't so impresssed with the noise level of the exposure as a whole. I will try to post some 100% crops when I get home tonite.

2. The stacking method provides for excellent noise reduction. I found that compiling the layers in "lighten" mode averaged out the noise quite nicely, - while at the same time not taking a way from detail.

3. Stacking allowed me to more easily remove some unwanted elements from the photos without losing data. In the third picture I removed around 60 airplane light trails- (this took a little time:). I just used the eraser tool on the trail in the layer that it appeared and then the other layers took over for the blank spot. This also came in handy as dew collected on my lens later on in the exposure, lightnening and bluring the foreground, I just deleted those areas and allowed the previous, correct exposure to shine through.

4. I took 30s exposuresonly for the reason that my shutter release is not programmable. If I had the more expensive one I would try longer times - I have heared that one can take very clean exposures of a few minutes...
 
On the winter Solstace at the arctic or antarctic circle you will get close to 24 hours of darkness (I think it is 24 hours of sun in the summer, and 24 hours between sunset and sunrise in the winter, so not all that dark in the first and last few hours.)
 
Taken with an XTi. Curve tweaked in DPP to improve star visibility.



Kit lens @18mm, f/8, ISO 100. The trees are lit by "street" lights.

I was disappointed by the noise (original size was a snowstorm of hot white pixels). I've had 10-minute exposures come out clean, but half an hour is just too much even for Canon's famous CMOS sensors, I guess.
 
postpurchase said:
1. I tried two long exposures one at about 30mins at iso 200, and
another at about 45mins at iso 400. The pictures came out looking
nice overall but, when viewed closely had literally thousands of
small white pixel noise, really so many that it was not feasible to
clone them out. Also I wasn't so impresssed with the noise level of
the exposure as a whole. I will try to post some 100% crops when I
get home tonite.
Click to expand...
Whew. I was worried the white pixel noise was a "feature" of the XTi and its smaller photosites. I start seeing that in exposure times 15 minutes, even at ISO 100. I've taken practically noise-free 10-minute exposures, though.
postpurchase said:
2. The stacking method provides for excellent noise reduction. I
found that compiling the layers in "lighten" mode averaged out the
noise quite nicely, - while at the same time not taking a way from
detail.
Click to expand...
Stacking in "lighten" mode also improves contrast between stars and sky, and prevents light pollution or a full moon from blowing out the sky.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top