How to create great images of stars

Credit: soumyadeep mukherjee

Star Trail Photography documents the movement of the stars for a certain period. Since the stars seem to move from east to the west (due to the rotation of the earth), their long exposure photography will produce paths. Although theoretically this type of photography is considered for beginners and non -technical, not all images prove stunning. Here are five techniques that will help you improve your stars.

Separate exhibitions for the first floor

Traditionally, photographers produce images of stars for images by taking more exposures than 30 seconds. Then they merge the exhibitions to create the final image. This is a Nightscape photograph, images that have both a sky section and a section in the foreground.

In a dark position, however, the first floor is relatively darker than the sky. Since there are no lights in these areas, the first floor is mostly illuminated by the light of the stars. As we take Star Trail images, we often focus on the sky, adjusting our exhibitions to be sure that it is adequately exposed. Although this is necessary, it makes the first floor underestimated. To deal with this, the first floor could be illuminated in the processing phase. However, this inevitably introduces the noise in the foreground and a lack of details.

The way to solve this problem is to take separate exhibitions on the first floor. Keep your tripod in the same position and take your exhibitions before or after the sequence of images of traces. This is similar to a high -dynamic dynamic range technique in which different exhibitions are captured for differently illuminated portions of the frame. You can use a longer shutter speed, a wider opening or a higher ISO or a combination of these. The first floor can therefore be masked and combined with the image of the sky during processing.

Longer exhibitions for the sky

As mentioned, most of the stars trail images are made by combining more exposures of 30 seconds. This translates into hundreds of images to cover a couple of hours of star paths. Although this is not a big problem in itself, the choice of exposures longer as 60 or 120 seconds can help the photography of stars in three ways:

It will drastically reduce the number of exhibitions. For example, if you take two hours of star routes, with 30 second exhibitions you will have 240 images. With 60 second exhibitions, that number drops in half. And it goes down again in half, just 60, if you shoot 2 minutes exhibitions. This not only makes it easier on your computer, but can also reduce processing times.
Since there are fewer exhibitions, the spaces introduced by the camera recovery interval are also reduced.
Since the camera must request less exhibitions, the battery will last longer and you can shoot for a longer period.

If you are using a camera with Mirrorless Nikon, use the “extended shutter speed” to take images longer than 30 seconds. If the camera does not allow this option, an external intervalometer can allow you to shoot longer exposures.

Experiment with longer focal lengths

Traditionally, Stella Trail’s photography is made with wide -angle lenses, those with focal lengths between 10 mm and 24 mm. However, longer focal lengths can be an excellent choice also for the photography of stars.

Focal lengths such as 50 mm, 85 mm, 135 mm and even 400 mm can create surprising results. If there is a distant object in the foreground, a longer focal length will help to frame and isolate it. This will also help you create a different type of image for trail star. The focal length you choose depends on the first floor. Experience!

Make your star paths more fluid

Have you ever seen those fluid and buttery paths created by experts and you wondered if you can create them too? It is not magical. Just add a step or two during processing.

Three processes can help you reach a more fluid track in Photoshop:

1) Gaussian blur: filter> blur> Gaussian blur

2) Diffused filter: filter> stylize> anisotropic

3) Oil paint: filter> stylize> paint

The choice of filters and their amount is your artistic choice. One or more of these filters can be used together. Apply them to the part of the sky of the image, using a mask. But be careful. It is easy to exaggerate with them. Try to keep the effect of the Star Natural path as much as possible.

Single long exposure for star routes

Photographing the star routes with a single long exposure is not common. A long exposure will make your sensor hot enough to introduce many hot and cold pixels in the image (small red and blue points). A single disturbance during the shooting period, from a car lighthouse or other strip of light or a budget or other vibration to your tripod will be enough to ruin the image.

Having said that, it is worth trying a single long exposure for a stellar track. Theoretically, there is no limit how long it can be, but I advise you to start short (from 15 to 30 minutes) and gradually increase the length of the exposure. The best way to do it is with an external intervalometer.

Deciding exposure settings is simpler than you think. Choose a brief exhibition (from 10 to 15 seconds) with a high ISO and an open opening to have a properly exposed image. Now open an exposure app on your smartphone (there are many free ones available for both Android and iOS) and regulates the ISO and opening to obtain the exhibition you want.

All the above methods will help you get a “different” result from the normal Star Trail images. Some of these can adapt to the desired result while some will not do so. The key is to continue experimenting with different techniques until the final work flow decides.