Cathedral Star Trails

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted February 22, 2011227 views10 comments

Hi

This is what I consider my first successful star trail taken two years ago thanks to the wonderful article posted on NPN by Floris van Breugel. I tweaked some of his ideas until I got the right settings for my D700 and this was the first 'success story'.

It was shot on a very gusty night on Cathedral Peak in the Drakensberg Mountains (South Africa). The following morning I was literally bowled over by the wind. A friend's backpack went airborne and was thankfully brought to ground as it flew past me.

The shot consists of three exposures of 10 minutes each @ 400 ISO (the gaps in the star trails are a result of a passing cloud). The tents were lit during one exposure via a flashgun.

Now my goal is to figure out the best settings for my current rig, a D3x. So far I'm not as impressed with my star trail results as I was with the D700.

Thanks for looking. Any C&C is welcome and much appreciated.

E

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Pam Colander on February 22, 2011 at 2:42 PM

Good job on the star trails.

Registered on December 7, 2006, 210 Posts, 1062 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Cartamil on February 22, 2011 at 4:59 PM

I think that the tent looks too bright, maybe if you used a less intense light source it would have a more natural appearance. Nice placement of the start trails in your composition.

Registered on November 15, 2007, 50 Posts, 601 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Loomis on February 22, 2011 at 5:51 PM

For a minute, I thought you'd found a worm hole to another dimension.

I really like the composition here. And the exposure is fantastic given the conditions you describe. I would definitely count this a success.

Registered on January 26, 2010, 68 Posts, 719 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Schwarz on February 23, 2011 at 9:44 AM

I like the composition and the overall photo. I would tone down the one tent so it isn't so bright.

Registered on November 29, 2006, 236 Posts, 1210 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on February 24, 2011 at 8:52 PM

I agree with the others on toning down the yellow tent. Hard to tell at this size but I think the gaps in the star trails are more likely the result of stacking the 3 seperate exposures.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Jason Kim on February 25, 2011 at 2:22 PM

This is nice, Emil. Shots like this always require a bit of experimentation, which is fun. This composition works really well and I like it a lot. My own preference, and this is entirely subjective, would be to keep things a bit darker throughout. That could help the stars pop from the sky, and might change the mood so that it definitely feels like this was shot in the middle of the night.

Registered on July 1, 2006, 60 Posts, 1233 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on February 26, 2011 at 8:34 PM

I like the light on the land Emil. I am not a fan of star trails, but that is me and will probably work for many. I agree with the others that the brightness on the closest tent should be toned down. BTW....Comp works well.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Basil Greber on February 27, 2011 at 4:24 PM

Looks like a fantastic night - some light on the foreground, but not too much so the stars are still well visible. Great job on the lighting of the tents and the placement of the rotation center in the frame.

Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on January 24, 2012 at 2:26 PM

A very well executed night shot and it had to be shot in South Africa ( where I live ) Good work !

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments

Comment posted by Pete D on February 2, 2012 at 5:54 PM

I haven't been south of the equator. It looks like there is no central star. This is very cool shot. I wish I was there.

Pete D.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 590 Posts, 1794 Comments