I Need Some Advice

[Adam Adkins]

I am going to Moab with an excellent and new idea for a photo. I want to go in the middle of the night and get a shot of the Delicate Arch with star trails. However, I have never done star trails before and I need some advice. I would like to practice before I go. I already know how to shoot bulb with a remote, but I really need to know all I can before I set out on this. All the little details will be appreciated! I was also wondering how to get the arch lit up with out blowing it out! Thanks!
My equip: Canon 5D Mark II + 17-40mm lens

 

[brandongreen]

get two portable studio lights. that should work. i saw a blog where one guy did the same exact thing but i cant remember the address.

 

[Adam Adkins]

Thanks a lot that is a good idea. But I still don't really even know how to shoot star trails.

 

[Greg Campbell]

I am going to Moab with an excellent and new idea for a photo. I want to go in the middle of the night and get a shot of the Delicate Arch with star trails. However, I have never done star trails before and I need some advice. I would like to practice before I go. I already know how to shoot bulb with a remote, but I really need to know all I can before I set out on this. All the little details will be appreciated! I was also wondering how to get the arch lit up with out blowing it out! Thanks!

When will you be going?
It's been DECADES since I visited, but I think Delicate can be illuminated from the west by a setting sun or moon. Find out how the arch is oriented, then check out http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=220&month=3&year=2010&obj=moon&afl=-12&day=1 and see when you'll have a fairly bright moon in a position to light it up. This may require a 3AM visit, but that's what landscape photography is all about! If the moon isn't cooperating, just place a number of Duraflame logs in pie pans around the arch. The burning wax and cardboard provides beautiful warm light.

My equip: Canon 5D Mark II + 17-40mm lens

The specific camera and lens really doesn't matter at all. Bring a sturdy tripod and be sure you can properly focus the lens in the dark.

With digital, you can crank up the ISO and make some short test exposures to determine the exposure for the arch. I suggest some night-before testing to determine sky fog time/aperture/ISO limits. Arches probably gets some slight light pollution from Moab, but hopefully this won't be too intrusive.

Shooting star trails is as easy as opening the lens to a near-full aperture, focusing, and pointing the camera at the sky for an hour or three. Sky fog and sensor noise (film is actually much better for these sorts of long exposures) are the main things to watch out for. Rural Utah is pretty dang dark, so you should be OK with several hours at (just a ballpark!) f4 and ISO 100.

 

[Adam Adkins]

Several hours? Yikes! I have tried to practice around here, but even though I go out away from the horrid suburbanization of America, I still find it very difficult to find hardly any stars at all. Why is this? And it seems to me that - at least for Mike H. - that you don't really have to get away from civilization to get many stars. (Courtesy Mike H!)

 

[D. Hayes]

Adam long as you have a descent camera with bulb mode you're pretty much set for star trails. Learn with the north star Polaris is located. Due north about 30 degrees above the horizon here in Wichita.

If you have google sky you can easily locate it.

Center that in your lens then click. You'll start noticing trails about 30 seconds after starting an exposure. Longer star trails takes about an hour.

The colder the better since hot CCD sensors generate noise and use a very low ISO (<100) setting to also reduce noise. A very solid tripod is a must and if you're shooting trees or grass you'll want zero wind.

Pay attention to lighting because even the slightest light can flood your picture.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Well there isn't much for lights north of town and I think that is the important part. You can be apparently fairly close to light pollution just don't face it at all. That one was still in town on the edge, and less than a mile from a massive BRIGHT corn milling plant. The plant puts off more light than the 8,000 pop town.

Our others from those nights we did only 3 miles east of town and 3 miles from that bright as hell plant. We also had a big bright moon up there(on purpose for the snow/scene). We were all shocked at the amount of stars that end up showing up(400 ISO helped obviously). WAY more than it looked like were there. It was extremely clear and crisp though as Orion right up by the full moon still looked very bright. The airmass in place was quite arctic, as we did these at around 0F. And facing away from Omaha, etc to the south.

The settings and whatnot I used are still on my front page. It's all about stacking with digital. More you ISO up, the brighter the stars will be but shorter the shutter to not blow out the foreground. Shutter can't go past 30 seconds unless you have a timer or want to stand there and do it. Otherwise just lock it in on whatever speed less than that and have the camera on consecutive shooting. Much like lightning shutter speed hardly matters past whatever short time it takes to move a pixel(less than 10 seconds?). Stack them later on the computer. I wouldn't even attempt non-stacking methods with digital. They look soooo much better not doing so. Past 3-4 minutes or so and this funky white speckled stuff starts showing up, not quite like noise.

There's not much to it once you think about it. Worst part about it all, is knowing for sure you have it set like you want. If not you just wasted whatever amount of time for one photo.

Guessing a decently bright flashlight would get the arch enough. Other images online to see how they did it there.

The ones very near a town can suck as you get several light colors in the picture, like that one you posted had. Settled on white snow and white ice in the river. Near that one light went a bit purple but better than very red snow and ice.

Using jpg instead of raw is a time saver too.

Seems there's plenty of pages on shooting star trails online to get info from as well. Not that there is really much to it, just have to think first what you want and make sure everything is set right. Think I just set white balance on fluorescent(not as cooling as tungsten).

 

[Tyler Burg]

When are you going? You might not need any other light source to illuminate your Arch, check what phase the moon will be in before you go, if its more than a half moon you should have no problem exposing the foreground properly (though you might need to take a separate exposure, probably quite a bit longer than 30 seconds, for your foreground. Then mask the foreground shot over your star trails.) Like Mike said, doing 30 second shots is probably the best way to go, with your canon and a cable release that shouldn't be a problem letting it go by itself. I tried 30s, iso 200 at F4 I think and the stars turned out a lot dimmer than Mikes shot there. I'm sure the 5D handles noise better than my Nikon, just seems weird that mine are so dim at 200 vs. 400. I'll definitely be using 400 ISO next time I do trails. http://www.tonightssky.org/images/022510a.jpg

As for light pollution...

That big white spot is Omaha, for the shot you posted above I believe we were in the yellow just north of that. Looking to the north there isn't much pollution. Not sure where you are located but if you let me know I can get you one of these light pollution maps, you can overlay them on google earth and find a good place to do star trails. I've actually found a minimum maintenance road (where I knew I wouldn't run into anyone) to shoot from on google earth that I knew was in a real dark sky thanks to those maps, pretty useful.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

At full size stacking 400 ISO 30 second shots that is all you'll be talking about for noise with that camera. Noise reduction was turned on. Guessing you could get away with 800 ISO and really pop the stars out if one wanted lol....just half the shutter time to 15 seconds instead.

 

[Adam Adkins]

I am going out to make an attempt! I will post that attempt tonight. I can visibly count about 15 stars in the sky. We will see if some turn out that I physically cant see (as I am hearing). I am reluctant to go seeing as how there is an awful lot of snow on the ground and it is freezing cold (I'm located near Castle Rock, CO), and I am going to one of those pull-offs on a dirt road (a very ZODIAC moment) and am only 17! But, I am hopeful that it will be worth it! I will let you know!

 

[James Langford]

I was in Arches and Canyonlands a few years back:

http://www.langfordphotography.com/Colorado-and-Utah/Arches-and-Canyonlands/6348472_Wcc3N

I'm pretty sure you will have very little to zero light pollution from the nearby town. If the moon is not up and/or full, it gets VERY DARK out there. And I mean, it's creepy dark. The hike up to Delicate Arch is a bit of work, and coming back down in the dark could be tough. Take a good flashlight.

For lighting, you could rely upon the moon, which works very well if it is behind you and big:

I don't think strobes or anything would be practical. I would just "paint" the arch with your flashlight for a bit, which should work well for lighting it up.

Here's a shot from Isle in the Sky, which is in Canyonlands. The moon was very small and behind me, but didn't give off much light. Full moon works very well if it is behind you. I couldn't sit out on the edge of this 1000 foot cliff for very long. I ended up leaving my camera shooting, and headed back to my car.

I personally don't shoot one long exposure for star trails ever. I don't like the noise that comes along with them (at least in my camera). I "stack" my shots. Typically I'll shoot at F2.0 with my 20mm prime lens, at about 1 1/2 minutes each exposure (depending upon how bright the moon is). I use a remote that allows taking one shot after another, and the time between each shot is minimal. Also, shooting at a open aperature and short exposure will allow you to test your "painting" each checking the shot. Once you get a good painted Arch, start up your non-stop shots and sit back and relax. You are looking at 1 to 2 hours to get a good full covered sky in trails.

Anothing thing you could consider, although it is much more difficult, is setting up early and capturing a dusk shot with some color still in the sky. You have to be careful with this, as the sky can kill the star trails. It works sometimes, though:

Anyway, good luck! Can't wait to see the results.

EDIT: I use this remote: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/164271-REG/Canon_2477A002_Timer_Remote_Controller_TC_80N3.html
The 5DMKII may have that timer functionality already built into it, I don't know.


James

 

[Adam Adkins]

WOW! That first picture was spectacular! What exactly were the settings on that? Was there any cut and pasting?

 

[Rick Schmidt]

I did not read all of the posts, but something to note---the further away from due north you aim, the longer the trails will be; i.e., if you want concentic arcs, point the camera due north. If you want long, almost straight trails, point east or west. As for lighting the formations, if you are real close to them, a few flashes from your strobe should work. I have done this quite often with good results.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Here are some very nice examples that might give you some ideas as to how you want to arrange the photo and light the arch.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredseyes/2426635079/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brentbat/3703777283/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35831538@N00/4054476564/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35831538@N00/4052143438
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fitman100/3870503145/

 

[Adam Adkins]

Well I think what I am struggling with is light pollution. I went as far away from anything as possible (within reason). Here is my first star trails shot from tonight.