A Year Under The Stars

[IntrepidXJ]

Going to start packing a lot of extra batteries, too?

 

[John Fowler]

Thanks for the link on the telescope motor, wes242. I had kind of the same idea but bought some metal channel strips for the rails. Also a counterweight or spring-loading would take some of the stress off of the motor.

 

[gloo]

that's so freaking awesome!! I don't think I have enough footage to try a video myself but it crossed my mind once I saw the timescapes video a while ago haha.

 

[Nick]

Going to start packing a lot of extra batteries, too?

I don't go through a lot of battery power doing stacked star trails. Single exposures kill it though. Still probably need to pack an extra spare though.

 

[Nick]

I'm going to try to get this video some major attention on the interwebz today. It got a lot of views over the weekend so I figure a good Monday morning blast of it could be a good way to get some new members onto BackcountryPost. Many of you already have, but feel free to share it on your Facebook pages, etc. if you'd like. You can link to this thread but the Vimeo link looks better on Facebook:

http://vimeo.com/36178220

 

[Yellowstone 1]

I really really like the star trails and time lapses you have done! :twothumbs: I am jealous that I do not have the camera to do such things.
I especially like the light painting and illumination techniques.

 

[Ranger Joe]

You inspired me to go out and try some star trail shots last night. My Nikon D200 can do interval shots, and it was doing pretty well last night until the 25 degree chill killed my batteries. I used to take star trail shots with reloaded disposable cameras...I'd rip out the shutter mechanism, put a piece of opaque tape over the lens and then duct tape about 6 of them together to a wooden stick. It kinda worked...

 

[Nick]

You inspired me to go out and try some star trail shots last night. My Nikon D200 can do interval shots, and it was doing pretty well last night until the 25 degree chill killed my batteries. I used to take star trail shots with reloaded disposable cameras...I'd rip out the shutter mechanism, put a piece of opaque tape over the lens and then duct tape about 6 of them together to a wooden stick. It kinda worked...

Try turning off the in-camera noise reduction. I don't have problems with my batteries draining shooting trails. Have you checked out the How to Shoot Star Trails guide that we posted? Might have something in there you may have missed too.

 

[Ranger Joe]

Try turning off the in-camera noise reduction. I don't have problems with my batteries draining shooting trails. Have you checked out the How to Shoot Star Trails guide that we posted? Might have something in there you may have missed too.

I turned off the NR and also turned the display off. I had a shutter speed of 4" with an interval of 30" between exposures. This yielded a sort of spotted star trail (there was a nearly full moon out the other night which really washed the sky out...my intent was to get the moon moving past a large blue spruce instead of detailed star trails). I've noticed before that with the NR turned on, I can only shoot at shutter speeds less than 8"...anything slower than that and the camera chews on the image too long. With the NR turned off, I should be able to shoot at 30"?

Also, where might I find this guide you mentioned?

 

[Nick]

You don't want an interval between exposures. Here's a link to the Star Trails guide. It should be very informative.

How to Shoot Star Trails

 

[ladigue_99]

wow, I really enjoyed your video!