Star Trails Over Buzzard's Roost
Apr 7, 2019 06:41:58 #
This past Tuesday, a friend invited me to go to Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee to shoot some Star Trails. He had obtained permission from the park ranger to be in the park after closing time. After a 2 1/2 hour road trip we made it to the park late afternoon. We had decided on a place high atop the ridge called Buzzard's Roost. It has a lone tree perched right at the cliff's edge. We set up our camera's during the Blue hour and then waited for nighttime. We hit the button on our external intervalometer at 8:30 and stopped at 11:30. Arrived back home at 2:30am. I ended up keeping 354 images for the trail. Some things I learned.
1. Raw images were a bit on the dark side. I should have worked on initial exposure a bit more.
2. Images weren't as sharp as I would have liked. I am new to night photography and I struggle with this a bit.
In Photoshop, I used the Load Stacking as layers feature and changed the blend mode to Lighten.
I've got to work on getting the image sharper before hitting that shutter button.
1. Raw images were a bit on the dark side. I should have worked on initial exposure a bit more.
2. Images weren't as sharp as I would have liked. I am new to night photography and I struggle with this a bit.
In Photoshop, I used the Load Stacking as layers feature and changed the blend mode to Lighten.
I've got to work on getting the image sharper before hitting that shutter button.
Apr 7, 2019 07:05:58 #
Great location find and you were fortunate to have a clear sky within a few days of new moon in this part of the world lately. What shutter speed were you shooting? What light source on the tree? Thanks for sharing. 
Apr 7, 2019 07:17:42 #
SnappyHappy wrote:
Great location find and you were fortunate to have a clear sky within a few days of new moon in this part of the world lately. What shutter speed were you shooting? What light source on the tree? Thanks for sharing.
Using a Nikon D700, Tokina 11-16mm F 2.8 @F4. SS" 30secs ISO 800
Light source: Used our headlamps to light paint the tree.
Apr 7, 2019 07:18:19 #
Fstop12 wrote:
Using a Nikon D700, Tokina 11-16mm F 2.8 @F4. SS" 30secs ISO 800
Light source: Used our headlamps to light paint the tree.
Light source: Used our headlamps to light paint the tree.
Nikon D7000, sorry
Apr 7, 2019 07:25:27 #
for focus use live view and find the brightest star or planet and enlarge 100%. focus maually to the sharpest you can get then tape down your fucus ring with gaffers tape and you are good for the night.
Apr 7, 2019 07:34:50 #
Apr 7, 2019 07:42:50 #
jwm1944 wrote:
for focus use live view and find the brightest star or planet and enlarge 100%. focus maually to the sharpest you can get then tape down your fucus ring with gaffers tape and you are good for the night.
Thanks, I keep forgetting about that tape.
Apr 7, 2019 07:43:00 #
Super-impressive, amazing work (from a non-night sky photographer 
)
)Apr 7, 2019 07:46:26 #
Linda From Maine wrote:
Super-impressive, amazing work (from a non-night sky photographer )
)Thanks for that kind comment Linda.
Apr 7, 2019 09:18:31 #
Fstop12 wrote:
Using a Nikon D700, Tokina 11-16mm F 2.8 @F4. SS" 30secs ISO 800
Light source: Used our headlamps to light paint the tree.
Light source: Used our headlamps to light paint the tree.
You might google NPF rule to limit recorded movement and gain sharpness of stars in individual frames. Since you were going for star trails it wouldn’t matter...your final result is great
Apr 7, 2019 09:46:18 #
Apr 7, 2019 18:16:28 #
Apr 8, 2019 05:28:21 #
Apr 8, 2019 09:49:07 #
Apr 8, 2019 16:46:14 #
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