First couple of star-trail pics

[RikM]

I have been wanting to try this for quite a while. I haven't got a nice foreground unless I go for a bit of a walk and I wanted to work out what I am doing first. These were 90sec @ f/3.5 & ISO800 with the 18-55 EF-S@18mm. Are 15 - 30sec subs better for Star-trails? Why? (aside from smaller gaps if you lose a few)

The first image is the second ISS pass tonight.

[Psychobilly]

I just set the exposure based on the background sky/lp level at the start of the session...

couple of nice results there with good star colour

[saturn5]

Provided you dont have any light pollution there's nothing to stop you taking a single shot of 30 minutes or more,i think the longest i've taken is 45 mins.

There's no rules regarding time,if you had some foreground interest in a shot,trees,buildings,sea,loch or whatever then the exposure would obviously have to be long enough for these objects to show up so your times could be 30 seconds,could be several minutes.

As Peter mentioned,take a few shots of different exposure lengths,see which one looks the best ,then I usually take between 30 and 60 mins worth of exposures.

I prefer not to go with several hours worth of exposures because i feel the sky becomes to cluttered with lines but thats only my personal preference.

Youve managed a couple of good shots,nice and sharp.

[eliot]

Great shot. I love how polaris is offset it gives the shot a different feel.

[eriwig]

Love the second image with polaris offset as Eliot mentioned above but then seeing the ISS crossing over on the first still amazes me sometimes