Star Trail Using Slow Exposure

[omniscapephotography]

Hi All,

Here is a "how I did it" posted in the blog I run called Landscape Photography Tips & More | The Omniscape Photography Blog.

The Making of "Star Struck" by Brandon Broderick

This photo was taken in Northern Ontario near the town of Kirkland Lake. I had always been interested in photos of the stars, and more specificly, photos of star trails. After lots of trial and error, I was finally figuring it out and decided it was time to get a bit creative with it.




The night this photo was taken, there was a full moon so I had to take advantage of it. I’ve taken photos of the moon before but wanted to use it in a different way this time. I set up my shot so I had the moon at my back. This would allow me to still photograph the stars and allow the moon to illuminate the foreground. This is a single 15 minute exposure. The only editing done was a slight temperature adjustment and some minor noise reduction.

Lastly, here’s a simple tip for these night shots. Always try and set up your shot before it gets dark. It is still possible to set up the shot in the dark, however I find that composing a shot and making sure focus is correct is much easier to do during daylight hours.

Equipment used:
Camera: Canon EOS 5D mk II
Lens: Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM
Tripod: Gitzo GT2541 carbon fiber tripod
Tripod Head: Manfrotto 488RC2

[becksjd]

Oh my, I didn't even know this was possible!! So amazing! Thanks for sharing this!!! I love love love it!

[Darkninja462]

Ive always been interested in doing this but always not tried it as fear of overheating my sensor ?

[DDFF]

Nice photo. I've recently tried to do this (the last Perseids Meteor shower ) but I got no special results. However I enjoyed the experience of staring at the stars...

[omniscapephotography]

Hi All,

Glad you enjoyed it. Here's another one I have which uses the same effect. I named this one Timeless Night.




About overheating the sensor, feel free to e-mail Brandon since he took the picture (brandon@omniscapephotography.com) about how to avoid this.

Thanks for the nice comments,

Geoff

[timsville]

wow Geoff both of your photos are fantastic. was the second one also a 15 min exposure? It seems more like night time.
Also, do you have all the other info for these shots? (exif?) if so could you post it please?
All of my attempts at this have just ended up being a blown out noisy peices of poop!!!!
Can't wait to get a nice one one day. Great job, and thanks for sharing.
cheers

[tylernothumbs]

nice pictures...might have to get away from the bright lights of the city to give it a try

[omniscapephotography]

Timsville,

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't take the picture, I just run the website. I'm going to post your question as a comment on our blog Landscape Photography Tips & More | The Omniscape Photography Blog, and Brandon Broderick (the photographer) will answer your question.

If anyone else has questions regarding how this shot was taken, please direct questions to the comment section of our blog.

Thanks guys!

Geoff

[Chainsaw]

I love this photo and am extremely curious as to how you got the stars to trail in a circular fashion. I understand it was taken with an exposure of 15 minutes - does that create this effect, or was that Photoshopped?

I'm just starting out again with photography so am open to anything you could share about this!

[BrandonBroderick]

Hey Chainsaw,

the circular pattern is all natural and created by the earths rotation. Those are both single exposures with minor editing.