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Credit:NASA, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apellániz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Spain)
How ToPhotographStar Trails
Debbie DiCarlo
March 12, 20127:30 PM
Static image - stars
Multiple static images combined
=Star trails
© Debbie DiCarlo
Philosophies
• One long exposure – Bulb mode– 15 minutes to several hours– Battery drain– Noise– Can produce hot pixels
• Multiple, short exposure images– Manual mode– 30 second exposures– 120 images per hour– 1 dark frame– Stack in post-production
Planning
• Scout possible areas ahead of time• Look for areas with little light pollution• Look for an interesting foreground • Determine if you want the North Star in your
image – and where• Watch the weather report
Equipment• Must have
– Film or digital camera – Fully charged battery– Tripod– Wide angle lens– Card to hold ~ 300 RAW images – Corded shutter release or intervalometer
• Nice to have– Lens hood– Chemical hand warmers, sock , rubber band,
clip or fan– Rain protection– Plastic bag or cardboard– Light source for light painting (flashlight,
headlamp, car headlights)– Star app on phone
Environmental Factors
• Cloud cover• Sunset• North Star• Moon rise – phase,
time, location, movement across the sky
• Dew point
Settings
• Camera– ISO 200 to 400– Any white balance mode, except auto– Manual mode– Wide open f/4.0 – f/5.6– Focus at infinity– Turn off auto picture review– Turn off noise reduction– RAW
• Shutter release– Continuous mode
What to expect
• Airplanes• Shooting stars• Clouds• Condensation/dew• Inquisitive people including police/rangers • The unexpected– Howling coyotes– Fighting raccoons
• Great experience!
Post-Processing
• Download images from card• Sort images into different folders – main star trails, light
painted, dark frame, JPEGs• Open one image from main folder in Adobe Camera Raw
– Landscape, white balance, other enhancements• Open in Photoshop CS4• Open Adobe Bridge
– Select all, edit, develop settings, previous conversion• Open in Photoshop CS4
– File, scripts, image processor
Post-Processing
• Photoshop action, StarStaX, Image Stacker, Startrails.exe
Post-Processing
• Open in Photoshop
• Create adjustment layers– Curves, levels,
color balance, hue/saturation, sharpen
• Save as
© Debbie DiCarlo
Post-Processing
• Optional – foreground light painting
• Create two layers– Layer mask– Hide all– Brush parts of
image back
© Debbie DiCarlo
Thank you!
Email: [email protected]
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/debbiedicarlo/
Photography: debbiedicarlophotography.com
