Take the Stars for a Spin (Mouse-over) How to shoot the night sky...

I love taking pictures at the edge of night and beyond,  it's a whole new world after the sun sets, and the stars begin to shine! I thought it would be great to take the stars for a "spin" to see the difference between a single exposure of the stars as pinpoints, and multiple exposures stacked together for star trails. Roll your mouse over the image to see one of the original images. With star trails, you can convey a sense of motion and time passing, which can be quite magical!

You can learn more about how I created the images above on the Nikon Learn & Explore site on the links below. Read about photographing and creating star trails, and also photographing stars as pinpoints. I'm also teaching an online course on long exposure creativity, which covers photographing at the twilight, night, extended daytime exposures using neutral density filters, and skills and techniques to round out your photography whether you are traveling or in your backyard. Lots of fun and learning packed into 4 weeks at BetterPhoto.com!

Happy Monday, I hope everyone has a great week! ~ Deb

Photographing the Night Sky...

I'm working on a few ideas for star photos and thought I'd republish this post! This was photographed in my neighborhood on a cool clear night. With my camera, a Nikon D3s, consecutive exposures can be made by using the interval timer shooting option under the shooting menu options. An intervalometer can also be used for other cameras. Rather than make one long exposure, about seventy 30 second exposures were made, and stacked in Photoshop Extended using Image Statistics. There's also an action for stacking stars using the Lighten Blend Mode. There are quite a few options stacking for star trails, and a single long exposure can be made too. I used a 14-24mm Nikon lens, f/4, 30 seconds adjusting the ISO to suit the scene. Want to try it? Bring a tripod, flashlight, and a compass to locate north if you wish to compose for circular trails. Once the camera is set up to record consecutive exposures, sit back and relax, and enjoy the night sky! Have fun shooting! ~ Deb

Shine on...Star Trails at Rocky Mountain National Park

Yeah, we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars and the sun. ~John Lennon

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorite locations to photograph. Everything changes dramatically with the seasons, and at night, it's absolutely beautiful! This was taken a few days ago on a very clear and cold night at an overlook I like to shoot from. There were countless stars in the night sky, and I saw a few shooting stars as well. Lenticular clouds filled the sky earlier in the day that were amazing, including this one last cloud that stayed for hours. 

This image is the result of about 45 exposures  using Interval Timer Shooting with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 14-24mm lens. The images were stacked in Photoshop CS5 Extended using Image Statistics. One of my longtime favorite filters, Nik Color Efex Pro Glamour Glow added subtle softness and saturation to the image. 

Interested in night photography? Please join me in St. Augustine, Florida this April at Florida's Birding & Photo Fest. I'll be leading a couple of fun workshops on nighttime photography, and don't miss my presentations on HDR, Creative Photography, and Infrared Photography too! Hope to see you there!  ~Deb

Starlight over Indian River Lagoon...

The Indian River Lagoon is one of my favorite places to photograph on the east coast of Florida. The night sky transformed this familiar place into something magical. Palm trees along the shore are silhouetted by the light from countless stars. This photo reflects about 40 minutes exposure, using a Nikon 16mm fisheye lens. The position of the camera (facing west) creates a "falling star" look (arc) rather than the concentric circles that occur with the camera oriented north or south.

What do you need for photographing the night sky? You'll need your camera, tripod and shutter release. Determine the white balance by making a few test shots. I dialed in a white balance setting of 2500K. If you are shooting consecutive images, turn off noise reduction as the longer interval between shots will leave gaps in your star trails. I used my camera's interval timer to shoot the stars in this photo. I also use Nikon's MC-36 multi-function remote, and I'm experimenting with a Promote Control. You can also make a single long exposure if you wish, anything goes!

Interested in night photography? Come down to Florida's Birding & Fotofest this spring! I'll be presenting on night photography, infrared, and how to get creative with photography and Photoshop. Hope to see you there!

Under the Stars... Rocky Mountain National Park

Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star.  ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

Rocky Mountain National Park is beautiful during the day with it's open vistas, endless sky, and ever changing scenery. I've photographed it many times, but it's completely different at night. The landscape is transformed into something magical under the stars and moonlight. It's very quiet (except for the bugling elk), clear and cold. I like the way the trees were isolated against the mountain range, and knew I had to photograph them with sweeping star trails. This image is the result of over an hour's worth of stacked exposures, using the Nikon D3 interval timer. Have fun shooting! ~ Deb

Starry Night, Photoshop CS5 Style...

Here's a quick and easy way to create star trails in Photoshop CS5! Click on the fly-out menu in the Actions palette and load the action - Star Trails Rotation. Choose a photo of stars that you'd like to rotate to make star trails. Start the action, and watch the magic happen!

I used a single photo of stars that I shot on Florida's east coast for the star trail rotation action. For the foreground, I chose a castle that I photographed in Europe, and toned it blue. To tone your image, use a Hue Saturation adjustment layer and check Colorize. Move the hue and saturation sliders to create the look you like. Composited together, the two images tell a dramatic and interesting story. Have fun in Photoshop!

Photographing stars and star trails...

The east coast of Florida is one of my favorite locations to photograph. As often as I've shot there, I have never photographed it at night. It's more beautiful than I ever could imagine. It's amazing how many stars there are out there, and how many more can be appreciated by just taking a photograph.

You can make a photo like the one above by using a fisheye or wide-angle lens to capture as many stars as possible. You can also take many consecutive photos and stack them to create a single photo  to create star trails as shown below.

I used a 16mm fisheye lens, f/4 and a 30 second exposure. For consecutive exposures to create the star trails, I used the interval timer feature in my camera (Nikon D3s). Your camera may have this feature, or you can use an intervalometer. The interval timer on my camera is set to record one exposure (30 seconds) every 33 seconds for as many shots as my battery will allow. Noise reduction is turned off to allow for consecutive shots, and image review is turned off to save battery life. I focus manually and find it helpful to make several test shots to determine ISO, and verify the overall exposure.  Experiment with longer exposures, however keep the interval between exposures consistent, or there will be gaps in the star trails.

Here's what you will need for star trails...  A clear night, tripod, interval timer, flashlight, a location without a lot of noise pollution and a compass. You can look for Polaris, the north star, or just use a compass to locate north (or south)  if you wish to shoot circular trails. I use my iPhone compass, it works great!

If you want to experiment, you may be able to do this in your own backyard, as I did with the images below. This is good practice for any clear night.

Star trails don't always have to be recorded as circular, there are no rules! The photo below was taken with an 8mm circular fisheye with the camera facing up in my driveway.  I had to rescue both cameras as it started to rain. Even on this "clear" night, clouds rolled in quickly, so keep an eye on the weather!

You can use a script in Photoshop to stack the images. If you are using Photoshop extended, choose File>Scripts>Statistics, and set the stack mode to Maximum. I make any tweaks and adjustments to the stars in camera raw and convert the images to tif files. You might want to experiment with other software stacking programs, PC users can look into Startrails. You can also blend the images in Photoshop by stacking and using a blend mode of Lighten. (However this will take a while if you have a lot of images)!

I'm just getting started with stars and star trails, and I'm very excited about it! I like the way the stars look in the first image, but the star trail images are so interesting too! Don't forget to consider an interesting foreground element. I used HDR for the foreground in the last two images to create a better balanced image. Have fun shooting!

More Star trails...

This is the most challenging locations to photograph. I think I'm parking in an impromptu boat ramp for overnight fishermen. Several monster sized 4x4 trucks appointed with extra large headlights on top of the cab drove by during the evening, illuminating the trees, foreground, and probably the next city. I wanted to create a time lapse with the images, however this worked out well instead! This was the result of over two hours of exposures at f/4, 30s with a Nikon 16mm fisheye lens using the Nikon D3s interval timer. My iPhone has a compass, which is great to locate north - the center of the star trail. It's still too hot and rainy here, and I'm sure this will be better to try when it's cooler, but good practice in any case! If you like stars, this is the greatest site "Astronomy Picture of the Day".  If you like to record star trails, please share your photos with me! I'd love to see them.
~ Deb

Star trails...

Star trails are a fascinating part of photographing at night! I've been waiting for a chance to photograph stars on Florida's east coast, far away from the city lights of Orlando. The wind finally blew away most of the clouds that have been looming here the month of August. This created a perfect opportunity to shoot at night. I used a 14-24mm f/2.8 Nikon lens on my D3s, f/5.6, 30 seconds - setting the camera up for interval timer shooting. I also set a 16mm fisheye lens in the same vicinity. I've been experimenting a lot with interval shooting just for fun! Ideally, a clear night, little wind and a location away from city lights works to create a successful star trail image. I had a breezy night and a little light, however I'm happy with my first real star trail image!

If you are shooting, you might enjoy having your iPad with you to keep you company. This is going to take some time. You'll also need mosquito spray, a light jacket, flashlight, and something to keep the wild animals away too. I experimented with light painting later that evening, and there were way too many eyes out at the Indian River Lagoon. I'm really enjoying this app called "Star Walk" (screenshot below). You'll get an idea of the star patterns and hear some cool music as well. Happy Friday everyone - have a wonderful holiday weekend! Go photograph star trails tonight! ~ Deb