Star Trails Tutorial

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Archive 2009 · Star Trails Tutorial

Icypeak
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p.5 #1 · Star Trails Tutorial

Great job on this turorial, Floris. I've done quite a few long single exposures startrail images before, with the usual issues of noise and color banding. I've done a couple of basic stacks still with pretty long exposure times of around 15 min. each frame and still had too much noise for large prints, so I'll certainly give this technique a try.

-Dave

Jan 12, 2009 at 06:18 PM

JimFox
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p.5 #2 · Star Trails Tutorial

Nice work on these!

Jim

smcphotos wrote:
Floris

I second all the others about how wonderful your tutorial is. I've read many on this subject, and yours is clear, detailed, and well-informed.

I took your advice into practice and here are a couple samples of mine from rural Arkansas the other night. The moon was almost full at the time, so the barn was well-illuminated.

1

6 five minute exposures ISO 400, f/5.6 stacked using your method.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

5 minute exposure, LED Used for fill light on the barn foreground. The moon is silhouetted.
ISO 400, 5 minutes, f/8

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Jan 12, 2009 at 08:43 PM

floris
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p.5 #3 · Star Trails Tutorial

Glad it worked out for you Stephen, you got a great combination of the stars and moon there!

Jan 12, 2009 at 08:50 PM

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p.5 #4 · Star Trails Tutorial

do u know any way to take the pic on a canon 1D, as this camera give noisy pics when taking long exposure??

Jan 21, 2009 at 02:16 AM

floris
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p.5 #5 · Star Trails Tutorial

chikku wrote:
do u know any way to take the pic on a canon 1D, as this camera give noisy pics when taking long exposure??

Should be the same method I describe in the tutorial - basically you want to use multiple shorter exposures, and combine them.

Jan 21, 2009 at 02:24 AM

testexpert
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p.5 #6 · Star Trails Tutorial

A BIG THANK YOU，Floris!

Jan 21, 2009 at 09:51 AM

chikku
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p.5 #7 · Star Trails Tutorial

Should be the same method I describe in the tutorial - basically you want to use multiple shorter exposures, and combine them.

Thanks again Floris.
One more question. When doing the stacking procedure, does adding more darkframes make the images less noisy/less hot pixels?

Jan 21, 2009 at 06:32 PM

floris
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p.5 #8 · Star Trails Tutorial

chikku wrote:
Should be the same method I describe in the tutorial - basically you want to use multiple shorter exposures, and combine them.

Thanks again Floris.
One more question. When doing the stacking procedure, does adding more darkframes make the images less noisy/less hot pixels?

I don't use dark frames, since with the 20D/5D/5DmkII they don't seem to do anything for me. I would guess there's only so much they can do, but sure using a few (and averaging them I guess) might help. Also be sure to shoot the dark frames right after the primary exposures so you have an accurate representation of the sensor/environment temperature.

At some point there's probably not much you can do to fix the noise issues, some cameras are just noisier than others.

Jan 21, 2009 at 09:30 PM

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p.5 #9 · Star Trails Tutorial

Thanks for the tips/tutorial Floris. Great shots all around!

Hatch

Jan 26, 2009 at 05:13 AM

JaneG
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p.5 #10 · Star Trails Tutorial

Thanks for the great tutorial

I particularly liked the badwater shot, the contrast of the geometric shapes with circular trails of the stars is very effective. The blue tone of the salt adds another dimension to the image as well...gorgeous.

Best regards

Jane

Feb 07, 2009 at 12:47 PM

reggie747
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p.5 #11 · Star Trails Tutorial

Excellent, Thanks. I'll tag this for a near future reading session

Feb 07, 2009 at 04:52 PM

sitw
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p.5 #12 · Star Trails Tutorial

This needs a stickie.

Fantastic

Evan

Mar 04, 2009 at 03:12 AM

R. Eisenberg
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p.5 #13 · Star Trails Tutorial

Thanks very much for the helpful technical observations, the thoughtful manner in which they are formulated, and the striking and impressive photographs accompanying them.

Mar 04, 2009 at 12:06 PM

jason kelly
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p.5 #14 · Star Trails Tutorial

Cracking advice, gonna try this tonight.

Mar 04, 2009 at 02:56 PM

Isaac Viel
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p.5 #15 · Star Trails Tutorial

Great post, Floris! *crosses fingers for a clear night soon*

Apr 26, 2009 at 05:00 PM

CDalessandro
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p.5 #16 · Star Trails Tutorial

And I thank you to Floris..WOW! Outstanding work.
Carolyn

Apr 26, 2009 at 05:31 PM

VanIsle
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p.5 #17 · Star Trails Tutorial

Thanks for the excellent writeup Floris.

I had read that a way to fight condensation on the lens, is to use an elastic to affix some "glove warmers" (such as http://www.safetycentral.com/hot2hanwar.html) around the lens. I haven't tried it yet, but thought it might be worth sharing.

Cheers,

Jeremy

May 02, 2009 at 10:03 PM

Dave Bachrach
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p.5 #18 · Star Trails Tutorial

Wow! Incredible, inspiring images and an excellent tutorial.

Thank you...

Dave

May 02, 2009 at 10:11 PM

floris
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p.5 #19 · Star Trails Tutorial

VanIsle wrote:
Thanks for the excellent writeup Floris.

I had read that a way to fight condensation on the lens, is to use an elastic to affix some "glove warmers" (such as http://www.safetycentral.com/hot2hanwar.html) around the lens. I haven't tried it yet, but thought it might be worth sharing.

Cheers,

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy, I have heard of this as well - I've never had issues with condensation beyond what a lens hood can't cure, but I'll add it in as I'm sure there's more condensation prone places than the areas I've shot!

May 03, 2009 at 03:52 PM

wickliffe
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p.5 #20 · Star Trails Tutorial

Floris, thank you for a wonderful tutorial. I can't wait to give it a try!

May 03, 2009 at 06:19 PM

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