6 Tips for Creating Star Trails

Monday 26 July 2021, 20:20 by Nando Harmsen | 4,438 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

August is just around the corner, which means the nights are noticeably getting longer. It is a great time to get started with creating star trails again. In this article, I will give you a number of tips for creating a beautiful star trail.

The Earth rotates on its axis. This causes day and night. It completes a full rotation every 24 hours. Because we are standing on the Earth, it looks as though we are standing still while everything around us rotates. During the day, the Sun appears to move across the sky from east to west, and at night the stars do the same.

If we expose for long enough, this movement becomes visible. During the day, this is difficult because the Sun gives off so much light. You would need a very dark ND filter to make this possible. For example, the 20-stop filter from Haida, which I have reviewed.

At night, a long exposure is much easier, because it is dark. The motion blur of the stars that becomes visible during a long exposure is called star trails.

Find a beautiful location and photograph star trails. It is even possible in the middle of the city.
It is not difficult to make star trails appear in your photos. You only need to keep a few things in mind. Let me give you some tips for creating your own beautiful star trail photos. Not about camera settings, but about creating an interesting star trail photo.

1. Build your star trail from lots of photos

You can make one long exposure by using your camera's bulb mode. But in practice, half an hour is about the maximum you can manage without ending up with an overexposed photo. In addition, noise will start to play a major role and can become very distracting.

By taking lots of photos with a relatively short shutter speed, you prevent the photo from becoming overexposed. You may only be able to use a 5-second exposure, but even then it works.
By taking multiple photos with shorter exposures and combining them using software, you have much more flexibility when it comes to the settings you can use, locations, and the length of a star trail.

2. Pay attention to the direction you are photographing in

The direction you photograph in determines the shape of the star trails. Pointing north makes it possible to capture circles in the frame. Pointing south means that the stars will appear in an arc above the horizon.

How the star trail appears in your photo depends on the direction you are photographing in. Use this in your photo to create a pleasing composition.
Point your camera east or west, and the stars will move diagonally towards or away from the horizon. Use this knowledge to make the star trails a better part of your composition.

3. Do not only use a wide angle

Using only a wide angle means that a lot of the night sky will be in the frame. It gives you the option of capturing circles of stars, for example. But also try photographing with a longer focal length.

This photo was taken with an extreme wide angle, but that is not always necessary. You can also create fantastic star trails with a longer focal length.
You may not capture as much of the night sky, and there will be no circles, but you can use this to show the star trails and your subject in a completely different way. Just look at the photos in this article.

4. Choose a beautiful foreground

Star trails on their own are boring. That is fun once, perhaps twice, but after that it all starts to look a bit the same. So choose a really beautiful foreground to make your star trail photo much more appealing to look at.

A beautiful foreground adds a lot of extra value to your photo. It makes it much more interesting.
A foreground can be a silhouette, but it does not have to be. You can even create star trails in an environment with lots of lighting. A beautiful foreground makes the photo much more interesting.

5. Add a star trail to your night photo

Do you have a beautifully lit subject that you want to photograph during your night photography? A building or an interesting street scene? Then it may be interesting to add a star trail to it.

Try turning it around. Do not choose a foreground for your star trail, but add a star trail to your night photo.
Your star trail can enrich the dark sky and add something extra to your photo. Even in a lit city, it is possible to create star trails, provided you choose the right settings.

6. Combine them with other light trails

Have you ever thought about including other light trails in your star trail photo? Think of the light trails from car headlights or bicycle lights. Perhaps you can even use other light trails, or draw with light yourself. Be creative.

Why limit yourself to the light trails in the night sky? There are more to be found, such as car trails.

Bonus tip. Photograph the Milky Way too

I have one extra tip for you if you go out to photograph star trails in August and September. When you are in a really dark location, check straight away whether you can see the Milky Way. If you can see it, you can photograph it.

It is not difficult, and usually one single photo is enough. Just make sure your shutter speed does not become too long, because this is a situation in which you do not want star trails.

If you are out taking photos anyway and you are in a dark location, try to capture the Milky Way. This is possible in the Netherlands too, although it is not always easy.
If you want to know why August and September are so interesting for the Milky Way, remember that the core of the Milky Way is the most beautiful part. It is above the horizon during these months.

Also check out my Star Trails course on Photofacts Academy

Would you like to learn much more about photographing star trails? I have recorded a complete course, my very first on Photofacts Academy. I cover everything about equipment, settings, editing, and other tricks and interesting facts.

You might also like

• 

  Combine star trails in Photoshop with an action

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  Night photography on Schiermonnikoog (part 2)

  by Erik Nevels

• 

  Night photography tip: turn light sources into stars

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  Use a foreground for star photos

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  Photographing in the Evening During the Dark Months

  by Nando Harmsen

• 

  The Entire Starry Sky in One Photo

  by Nando Harmsen

0 comments

Have your say

Please note: Articles older than a week can only be commented on by signed-in visitors.
Would you still like to comment? sign in or create a free account.