Star Trails

I took some time out to experiment with Star Trail photography. There are primarily two methods for capturing star trails; holding the shutter open for the duration or taking 30 sec exposures and stacking the images post production. I utilised the stacking option for a couple of reasons; to reduce noise and prevent the sensor from overheating. Both methods require up to an hour or more to capture enough movement to ‘see’ star movement. These photos were taken pointing towards the Southern Stellar Polar axis, unlike the northern hemisphere there isn’t a polar star in the south but there are ways to determine it using the Crux (Southern Cross) constellation.

Here are a couple of the stacked results (50 images each exposed for 30 sec):

Post processing was completed utilising the freeware software “Startrails” that stacks the images into a single shot and also can create a time lapse video.

The caravan park on the lake's edge and southern celestial pole above, captured at Lake Moogerah, 49 x 30 sec exposures stacked.
The caravan park on the lake’s edge and southern celestial pole above, captured at Lake Moogerah, 49 x 30 sec exposures stacked.
Shot in portrait and captured at Lake Moogerah with a car driving along the foreshore, 50 x 30 sec exposures stacked.
Shot in portrait and captured at Lake Moogerah with a car driving along the foreshore, 50 x 30 sec exposures stacked.

Cheers

Gary

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *