![]() ![]() I aim to be setup just before sunset, and my setup includes a tripod, a remote release/intervalometer, and an external battery pack (I use a Goal Zero Sherpa 100). Once you have an ideal day, make sure you have plenty of time to get to your location, as I found I’d be going to each location around rush hour. An occasional quickly-moving cloud won’t affect the composite much either. Low clouds can be OK if you are shooting wide enough (clouds block stars). ![]() You need a dark, ideally haze-less night, and as clear of sky as possible. Stars Over San Francisco And the Golden Gate Bridge by Josh Anon on 500pxįirst, picking a day is key. I found I needed at least two tries per location! Hearing my procedure will help you get started. A small tripod bump, slightly missed focus on the stars, a tilt/shift lens’ shift mechanism moving slightly, unexpected street lights, and more can easily ruin the shot. Taking these shots is a bit tricky as they’re very weather dependent, you have to pre-visualize something that’s not visible, and you have to have perfect technique. I knew I wanted the D800’s resolution to capture more stars and because these shots would be cool: I’d want to print them big. My dad graciously loaned me his Nikon D800E since at the time it was the highest resolution 35mm camera around, even though all the controls were backwards from my Canon gear. I started trying my urban star trail technique with SF landmarks. What I found is that high-res, very light-sensitive digital sensors combined with large storage cards and computers with a lot of horsepower have made it possible to take star trails in cities: the trick is to take many very short exposures (seconds) over a long period of time (hours) and composite them.Ī while ago, I realized that I live in a beautiful city (San Francisco) but I rarely shoot here because it feels like everyone is always out shooting, and I don’t like shooting what everyone else does. ![]() I’ll be sharing that photo as part of this series. This set me on a quest to figure out how to shoot a star trail in a city, and after 5 tries, I finally succeeded. I wanted to take a star trail shot with the beautiful Steve Jobs Building as the subject. This gives great results with very low noise.Ĭonventional wisdom says that for star trail shots, you need to be away from light pollution, meaning the subjects in these photos are usually mountains, lakes, cliffs, illuminated tents, trees, etc… However, a few years ago, I was walking out of Pixar Animation Studios, where I worked, and when I looked up and saw an amazingly clear night sky. The most common way to shoot star trails now is to take a bunch of short exposures (short generally means minutes) and composite them together with Photoshop actions like ’s Advanced Stacker or a free app like StarStaX. However, holding the shutter open for a long time can create problems such as noise. For example, I took this photo with a 20-minute exposure some years ago in the Cook Islands. The simplest way to take a star trail photo is to put your camera on a tripod, grab a remote release, and hold the shutter open for a long time. Technology has changed how we shoot star trails, making star trail shots in locations we previously thought impossible possible. They’re one of the few things that we can “see” with a camera that we can’t see with our eyes. I’ve always found photos of star trails-the arcs the stars paint across the sky as the earth turns-fascinating. ![]() To see more of his images, follow him on 500px, visit his website, or follow him on Instagram and Twitter. He’s also been teaching photography and co-authoring photography books for about 10 years. He has traveled around the globe, looking for the next great image, and his work has been shown in venues and publications around the world. Josh Anon has been a wildlife, landscape, and travel photographer for 20 years. ![]()
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