Better luck next time

Stars are so beautiful, and it’s amazing to think that the light from some stars takes over 1 million years to reach us. 

I’ve seen some really great photos of “star trails”. A star trail photo is created by taking a picture of the night sky with a super long exposure (over an hour in some cases). During this time, the stars move across the sky, creating a trail effect. Taking star trail photos seemed like a fun thing to do, so I headed to a local park around 11pm with my camera equipment and a blanket to recline on. 

After a few short exposures (5-10 minutes each), I realized I needed to go for a much longer exposure. However, I had no idea exactly how long to let my photo expose for, so I decided to try 1 hour.

It was amazing weather – clear sky, high 60’s, slight breeze. A friend showed up to keep me company while I waited for my photo to finish exposing. Unfortunately, my timing was off and the photo didn’t come out too well, as you can see to the right.

The star trail is visible, but the overall quality of the photo is quite poor. Next time, I’m going to try a slightly shorter exposure and tweak some other settings. If anyone has any tips for making great star trail photos, please let me know

Although my photo didn’t turn out too well, it was still fun to be outside on a beautiful evening.