First Take: Drillfield Star Trails

April 12, 2013  •  Leave a Comment

For almost three days I was trying to figure out what I am suppose to do to capture star movement and combat light pollution. With warm and dry weather that we had recently, even at night the air was still "dusty". However, last night we had a bunch of thunderstorms roll through and the air got a lot brighter and crispier. I grabbed my gear and went to the Drillfield.

It took me two hours to capture the image. Well, it is still not exactly what I wanted. For example, I do not like the lens correction, the gaps in star trails are still prominent at high resolution and composition of the photo itself is weak. However, this was my first ever attempt at "star-trail photography" and I think it is not quite a disaster I was expecting. So, Enjoy!

 

2013 | Virginia Tech | Drillfield | Burruss Hall | Star Trails2013.04.13. Star Trails over Drillfield

Download 1800x1200 (web resolution)

For those interested...

Key Equipment:

  • Canon 7D
  • Battery Grip
  • Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
  • Manfrotto tripod
  • Remote trigger

Some of the notable settings:

  • 30 second exposures
  • ISO 125
  • 170 exposures + dark frames
  • 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Shutter Priority
  • Exposure Bias Value -0.33 eV
  • Focal Length: 10mm
  • F-number: f/3.5

Despite photo not being a success, it is also not a disaster either. Like any photo enthusiast, I take "bad" photos, but that is how you learn. Trial and error, simple as that. On a positive note, now, I think I have a lot better understanding of what I am suppose to do if I were to take more...

 

 


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