Star Trails

[Bibhav Behera]

Star trails shot yesterday at Barhakamuda Range in Similipal.
Used a Maglite torch to paint the foreground along with the ambient light present from the solar powered light. There was slight fogging of the lens in the process due to which the central part is a bit soft.

Canon EOS 1000D, Canon EF-S 18-55 (Remote Trigger and tripod, Manual Focus)
SS 1350" (22'30")
f/4
ISO 400

Comments and critiques welcome.

[Nikhilesh Mahakur]

Am happy, you had the patience to do this.
Wish you had done it for a longer period
Look forward to more dedicated and involved shots from you.


Might sound harsh but expect much better from you!

Looking forward to your being here soon

[Bibhav Behera]

Thanks for the comment Nikhil. I wanted a 1.5 hr exposure, but I had misjusdged one factor: The moon. It brightened the sky up as you can see and the stars started disappearing. One more problem was that the lens started fogging.

Will have to get better for sure in the future.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I agree that you need more practice. Good that you have given it a start. The trees at the centre don't add to the composition. You have to first compose and then wait for the long exposure to record the start trails.

Tying up a piece of card board around the lens can help, if you don't have the lens shade. Fogging will happen if there is a sudden difference in temperature.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice experiment. I would have preferred without the foreground been lighted, as it doesn't add much to the frame. The tree in the middle is distracting. You could have if possible composed by moving a bit more to the left to avoid the branches on the top right as well (just my views). Thanks for sharing.

[Ruben Alexander]

this is a wonderfult try..!!! well done.. and keep trying!
just a question here... i have read that to get good star trails, you have to focus on the north star (if you are in the northern hemisphere). But it is not the easy if you are in the Southern hemisphere as it is difficult to spot the Southern Star. So the question .. did you focus on any star...or just focussed in random...?