This goes out to all the film shooters out there. I'm heading out to Coyote Buttes South and a couple other areas in red rock country next week. The trip will coincide with a new moon, so I figure it will be a great opportunity to do some star trail work (depending on the skies of course) My primary camera will be a 4x5 with a 75mm and 210mm lens. The 75 would be my lens of choice for the star trail shots.
I have some 100 speed provia which would likely work well due to lack of reciprocity issues, as well as a lower general contrast than velvia.
I know that in order to get some foreground exposure, I will need to do a bit of an underexposed twilight exposure, then fill in with the stars for a second exposure when the sky is fully dark. I need some guidance with camera settings since I don't really have any opportunity to experiment with this before heading out.
Here are my questions:
1) What would you suggest for the twilight exposure? 1 stop under? 2 stops under? 3 stops under?
2) What would be the ideal aperture for the star trails once it is fully dark? My guess would be f/5.6 for a 100 speed film. Please let me know if you think this will work, or if I should use different settings.
Although a little bit of Moon light is best for star trails you can do without if you start shooting just before twilight ends. There is a whole PDF issue on night photography on Magnachrom.com here - includes film choices etc.:
Although a little bit of Moon light is best for star trails you can do without if you start shooting just before twilight ends. There is a whole PDF issue on night photography on Magnachrom.com here - includes film choices etc.:
