Sunday (24-May-2015) — New Jersey

Backyard Springtime Night Sky Over New Jersey.

Startrails Looking North From My Backyard in New Jersey. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used the startrails.exe program to create the composite image. This time I made the composite using Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015.

Startrails looking North from Backyard. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Photoshop CC. In the past I used Startrails.exe to create the composite. This time I used Scripts/Statistics Stack Mode = Maximum within Photoshop CC 2015. (David J Mathre)
Startrails looking North from Backyard. Composite of 400 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/2.8, 30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Author: David Mathre

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time on home renovation and expansion of a wildflower garden/meadow.

9 thoughts on “Sunday (24-May-2015) — New Jersey”

  1. Great capture. I'll try that. Did you automate the shutter? How much time
    between shots?
    Surprisingly little light pollution. Don't have any neighbors?

    On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, Google+ <****@**> wrote:

  2. +John Hockridge I used the in camera  intervalometer set to 35 seconds for 30 second exposures. The extra 5 seconds allows the image to be transferred to the memory card. Three seconds was not long enough (probably depends on the speed of the memory card). If I used an external intervalometer I would go for a 60 second exposure. Much more than that you need to deal with sensor noise. I originally did star trails with very long exposures, but find that doing composites is more reliable and I don't have to do the long exposure noise reduction. 

    Regarding light pollution, these images were taken between midnight and 4 AM. It was a really clear night so I didn't have much reflection from dust or moisture. Looking south I have to deal with the lights in Princeton and Trenton. 

  3. +Joan Mathre I suspected that in the past, but a tree next to the house partially blocked the North Star. Now that the tree is gone it is evident that the North Star is a bit off from the true astro North point. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.