Star Trail Timelapse

[Photosbykev]

Hi,

I'm brand new to the forum but I thought I would start with a timelapse I took a few evenings ago which unfortunately included a police helicopter searching for someone. It spoilt the final star trail photograph but makes for an interesting timelapse video. I'm not sure to embed videos from youtube but the link is here YouTube - Star Trail Timelapse

The buildings that are illuminating the bottom of the image is Wylfa nuclear power station in N. Wales

The final image is below





Techy stuff:
Canon 7D and 10-22mm lens
Gitzo tripod and remote cable release

Camera settings:
30 second exposures f4@iso200 taken continuously by setting the camera in continuous shooting mode and using the lock on the remote release to make the camera take 140 exposures.

You need to turn OFF all Noise reduction in the camera as it will causes large gaps in the star trails. Instead take a dark frame at the start and end of the sequence, this is done by leaving the lens cap on and taking 30 second exposures.

To blend all the images I use a programme called Startrails.exe, a great piece of free software which uses the dark frames to remove a lot of the noise. The processed image was then cleaned up in photoshop.

To produce the video I use Adobe after effects to produce the main video and Premiere Pro to title it and produce the final HD video.

I hope I've given enough information but if not just shout, I'm more than happy to explain more.

[mccusaf]

You know what else I love about this shot? The plane trails! Awesome!

[smash125]

Is there any advantage of doing 30 second exposures versus doing the whole timelapse in bulb? I don't want to do a moving sequence like you did. I live in a big city so going out to where there is minimal light is quite a trip and I would like to get it right the first time! Great picture btw!

[Photosbykev]

Originally Posted by smash125

Is there any advantage of doing 30 second exposures versus doing the whole timelapse in bulb? I don't want to do a moving sequence like you did. I live in a big city so going out to where there is minimal light is quite a trip and I would like to get it right the first time! Great picture btw!

There are pros and cons to both techniques:

With the the stacked process you can shoot star trails for longer on one battery because you can use a couple of short noise reduction frames i.e only 30 seconds each for the whole sequence; if condensation forms half way through the sequence you can, with care, quickly stop the process, clean the lens and carry on; if there are any strong lights in the area you can control the exposue of them; you can also play with painting the foreground with light and blend the image in; the video sequence is just a by product of the process, the aim was to produce a single blended image. The biggest disadvantage is the post processing time as you have to convert a large number of files from raw to tiff/jpg and then blend them.

With Bulb, you must allow at least half the battery life for the noise reduction frame, if the battery dies before it finishes you lose the whole image; if there are any strong lights they will be completely burnt out; if condensation forms on the lens that's the end of the image; you can get a problem with noise in the final image.

Personally I prefer the stacked process as it gives me far more control over the final exposure and can, to a degree, handle strong light pollution.

[LeeR]

When I saw the title of this post I was fully prepared to be bored; startrails tend to be boring for everyone but the one who took the shot. However, that is clearly not the case here. The inclusion of the power plant in the distance and the amazing plane trails really adds interest to the shot. I suspect I would crop out the very closest foreground, but aside from that, this is a terrific image.

[Photosbykev]

Originally Posted by LeeR

When I saw the title of this post I was fully prepared to be bored; startrails tend to be boring for everyone but the one who took the shot. However, that is clearly not the case here. The inclusion of the power plant in the distance and the amazing plane trails really adds interest to the shot. I suspect I would crop out the very closest foreground, but aside from that, this is a terrific image.

I can fully understand that attitude Lee it's just a question of finding a fresh view of a photographic subject that is almost as old as the stars themselves and challenging yourself to improve

The techniques involved are simple IF you know what you are doing, for a beginner the pleasure in getting any star trail image is always something special. Light painting of an interesting foreground definately adds to a typical star trail image and the stacking processing is ideal for this approach.