PDA

View Full Version : Star Trails

crashmaster
Jun-06-2008, 11:44 PM
3 hours worth of star trails from the very dark skies of Grandview Campground, Inyo National Forest, CA. Trees were slightly illuminated from a campfire. Canon 40D, 17-55 USM lens, F2.8, 30 second exposures, ISO 1600.

http://rattlesnakeobservatory.com/startrails1.jpg
David_S85
Jun-06-2008, 11:59 PM
Nice!
pyry
Jun-07-2008, 12:05 AM
Cool! You've got a good take on the old idea :D

I like the trees in the frame, makes a nice comp :thumb
Have you tried boosting the dark red from fire a bit?
eL eSs Vee
Jun-07-2008, 06:29 AM
I see you've found the North Star! I like the slight illumination of the trees: It adds depth.

Fantastic image!! :thumb :clap
Azzaro
Jun-07-2008, 06:35 AM
:clap:clap:clap......... azzaro
Awais Yaqub
Jun-07-2008, 07:43 AM
Great work !!
Still working on it
crashmaster
Jun-07-2008, 09:05 AM
Did some curves adjustment to bring out some more stars and boost the illuminated trees, and updated the image at the beginning of the thread. I think its a little better. Thanks for the comments!
eL eSs Vee
Jun-07-2008, 09:16 AM
Still a cool image, but I think I liked the first one better. I liked the subtleness of the trees being barely lit.

Looks like you caught a few planes or meteors; possibly a satellite, too. :thumb
crashmaster
Jun-07-2008, 09:53 AM
I think you are correct, the tree looked better barely illuminated. I'll work on it a bit more and find a happy medium. Thanks for the input!
pyry
Jun-07-2008, 10:00 AM
I think you are correct, the tree looked better barely illuminated. I'll work on it a bit more and find a happy medium. Thanks for the input!

I'll admit I'm with ya there, I was thinking of a more subtle adjustment. Just enough to give a little glow.

Edit: looks like you updated the image while I wrote that. Looks good now :thumb
DaddyO
Jun-07-2008, 12:11 PM
This is a wonderful piece. :thumb Gotta ask :D how many individual images
did you use to put this together. 30 sec. images x 3 hours. :scratch Thats
a great deal of images. :wink Michael
crashmaster
Jun-07-2008, 12:20 PM
This is a wonderful piece. :thumb Gotta ask :D how many individual images
did you use to put this together. 30 sec. images x 3 hours. :scratch Thats
a great deal of images. :wink Michael

Thanks Michael. Yes its a bunch of images. I shoot in Med jpeg, start with a fresh battery, and let it run until the battery runs out. Compiling the images is very easy using Chris Schur's star trails photoshop action.

http://www.schursastrophotography.com/software/photoshop/startrails.html