To avoid the moon, you need to do a little research on its phases. Photographing star trails requires a dark sky and the moon’s reflected light makes a dark sky impossible.Īs many of the stars you’ll capture in your image are almost invisible to the eye, you need as much darkness as possible the moon will make those stars very faint. In the case of star trails, we’re going to avoid the moon at all costs.
Sigma Octantis lines up with the earth’s axis and so pointing your camera at it results in the stars spinning in an arc.įurther on, we’ll highlight some apps that can help you with mapping and locating stars. Where these two lines meet is where you’ll find Sigma Octantis or the South Celestial Pole. Halfway along that line, create a perpendicular line running towards the one from the Southern Cross. Next, locate The Pointers (Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri) and draw a line between these two stars. Sigma Octantis (also known as Polaris Australis) is a tricky star to spot, so first locate the Southern Cross and then draw a line along its top and bottom stars. When pointing your camera at the North Star, the earth’s rotation spins the other stars around that point.įor those in the Sothern Hemisphere, it’s a little more complicated. If in the northern hemisphere, locate the North Celestial Pole, which is the North Star or Polaris – it’s in direct alignment with the earth’s axis. The best reference point for star trails is the stars themselves. If shooting a circular star trail, then the first step is to locate your point of reference.
Understanding what you’re looking for, where to look and which direction to shoot in takes a little know-how.įortunately, we’ve prepared the necessary steps to make the process simpler. There’s a lot of prep work involved in star trails photography before you even pick up your camera. With a sense of radial balance and something not visible with the naked eye (without a camera and the techniques discussed here), this form of photography is incredibly alluring. It’s trickier as you have to point your lens at the celestial pole in your hemisphere. Star circles photography, meanwhile, captures images with the celestial bodies appearing to move in an arc or even in a complete circle. As the earth rotates, your camera will move with the earth in a straight line. The first is star lines, which are achieved by pointing your lens in an east or west direction to capture straight star trails.
There are two main effects you can get with star trail photography. This creates a visual anchor for the viewer and gives them the sense of being grounded while the stars swirl overhead. Star trail images usually feature a foreground subject such as a tree, derelict building or monolithic rock. Because your camera is on a fixed point grounded to the Earth, the stars appear to be in motion. The stars are not moving, but rather the Earth is rotating on its axis. Star trail photography is a form of astrophotography that involves capturing a picture of a clear night sky with thousands of lines of stars streaking across the view.
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