Shooting Stars

Shooting Stars © 2011 Claudia Ward
Nikon D90 55mm, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 5 minutes 33 seconds taken at 11:57 p.m.

Photographing the stars requires planning and patience but the rewards are striking and slightly magical images. Besides planning and patience, this photography requires a steady tripod, a remote release for the camera, and a flashlight. To be the most successful shooting the stars, it should be as dark as possible, meaning there needs to be little to no light from streets or towns, or even the moon ... thus the need for a flashlight. You can't check your settings without one.

Streaming Stars ©2011 Claudia Ward
Nikon D90 55mm, ISO 200, f/5.6 for 10 minutes 55 seconds taken at 12:11 a.m. 

Shooting the stars in a long exposure results in the star looking like streams of color in the sky, some blue, some white, some pale yellow and they can form an arc or circle - evidence of the earth's rotation on its axis. I've just begun shooting the stars and can say it's quite exciting. These were my first two attempts, on an evening when the moon shone brightly. Kent Weakley, in the Night Photography class I'm taking, pointed out that the North Star, which is directly above the earth's north axis never appears to spin unlike all of the other stars in the galaxy. Our mission in the next several weeks is to see if we can get a great time exposure of the north star with other stars spinning around it. Wish us luck!

 

Comments

[Ally de Groat]

beautiful blue coloration. I bet these are gorgeous as a large print :)