Not everybody can afford great equipment. But the good news is that you don’t even need a hundred bucks to take pictures; even great ones. But what you do need is a certain level of expectation to match what equipment and experience you DO have. Work up to the tough stuff; don’t expect it the first night out. So, the beginning imager should know some of the basic methods, those that can be done without a substantial outlay of cash, yet still provide nice pictures. One of these basic methods is to take an image of star trails…  

Equipment that you will need is a film camera with a “B” shutter mode , a shutter release cable, and a tripod or steady platform. It’s simple in concept. If you put a camera on a tripod, point it at the sky, and leave the shutter open for an extended amount of time, the stars will streak across the film. With some planning, you can capture some very wonderful trails, full of color. If you point the camera away from a the celestial poles, you will get trails that are straight lines. If you point toward a pole, like at Polaris, you will get concentric circles, like the shot at right taken in the dark skies of Copperbreaks State Park near Quanah, Texas (click here to see the image in a larger resolution)..

How long do you leave the shutter open? As short as 5 minutes to as long as 6 hours. For shorter exposures, you’ll need faster film (400 ASA or higher) and faster f/stop settings (like f/4 or f/5.6) in order to record enough of the star trails. For longer exposures, you’ll need slower film (100 or 200 ASA) and slower f/stop settings (like f/8 or f/11). This is because lengthy exposures might bring in too much of the surrounding lights, especially pollution. Make sure that you have somewhat dark skies. The darker they are, the longer an exposure you can safely take. Finally, be creative! Take your shot with something interesting in the foreground. Try flashing a colorful light on your foreground object during the exposure, thus giving the shot whatever mood you want to convey. Most importantly, have fun!

 Return to Article Contents

  Return to Home Page

Copyright(c) 2003 - 2004 ALLABOUTASTRO.com. All rights reserved.