Stars in So Cal?

[Liz Caldwell]

Yup, there are in fact stars in Southern California! (I'm shocked too)

These are my first star shots, done last night. This was taken in "The Bad Lands" of Moreno Valley, CA. I have done some post processing to get rid of the "light pollution orange" color that's so unavoidable in so cal., but I included the original for the exif. It was taken with a 22.5 min exposure, at f 5.0... There was no moon out, the steaks you see shooting across the sky are airplanes, headed west to Ontario or LAX.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/raverfluff/Stars-008-Edited.jpg

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[clockdoc]

Nice capture and alignment with the North Star. The first time I tried this I also got a small plane travelling through the scene with its locator beacon flashing at about a 1 second interval.
If some of you are limited to 30 second exposures, I came across an software program used by astrophotographers called Image Stacker. It can probably be found in a Google search. You can use it to string together a successive series of shots to get the trail effect of the earth's rotation. It can also be used for some interesting effects very similar to the HDR technique.

[Liz Caldwell]

Thank you! Yea, the planes are totally unavoidable out here, since there are two international airports within a 100 miles, but they added a nice affect, so I don't mind 'em.

I'm gonna head back out tonight and play with the white balance,try to ditch the orange in preprocessing :)

[Rislone]

Wow, I have been wanting to do this for a long while. I love the coloring the post verison, but to be honest the "light pollution orange" original is nice also, great coloring on both.

[jdepould]

Just out of curiosity, why f/5? For normal landscapes I'm usually down to at least f/11, if not f/16. It seems a little soft, and I think that's why.

[rediguana]

Just out of curiosity, why f/5? For normal landscapes I'm usually down to at least f/11, if not f/16. It seems a little soft, and I think that's why.

With the low levels of light, don't you want to try and collect as much as your lens will allow? Your exposure will be hours long once you start talking f11 or f16.

[peeperita]

great capture and post work.....and even the planes don't bother me because i feel that they add to the alien nature of this landscape....

i'd be proud too....

peeper

[Liz Caldwell]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments!

jdepould,

These were my first night shots, so I did use the large aperture to collect as much light as possible out of this pitch-black scene (it was effin dark out there!) I do want to try more with other settings soon, perhaps f11 will work out for me :)

[Nobie]

Great shot! There is a strong wish that you would have moved your tripod closer to the edge there and lost the shoulder of the road and gotten more of those hills though. And I have yet to have a clear night with no moon to try these long star shots, but couldn't we cover the lens while the planes passed?

[Liz Caldwell]

The planes are kinda unavoidable at that spot, since there are two airports within 100 miles, I think if I had to cover the lens with each passing plane, I'd have to be there all night! LoL :D

[pdaley221]

I love the purplish orange color. The horizon is a little crooked. I think it would look better if it was completely horizontal.

[snappygal]

something i always want to do but it is too fricking cold to stay out for 22 minutes and take a photo..perhaps in the summer time i might just do that. but thanks for the lovely photo!

[Liz Caldwell]

something i always want to do but it is too fricking cold to stay out for 22 minutes and take a photo..perhaps in the summer time i might just do that. but thanks for the lovely photo!

I actually just set the camera, locked the remote release, and hid in the car for 40 mins! I recommend having a hot cup of coffee ready in the car too :)