David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Views of the land around the world
I decided to do some star & jet trails with a different lens (14-24 mm f/2.8). Unfortunately, I did it in vertical/portrait mode and too much of the top and bottom were cut off by the ceiling and ground so I had to crop the image. Nine years later and still learning best method to do star trails. Also, no meteor trails during this sequence. Clouds moved in as it got toward morning.
Learning from mistakes. It took a while to figure out how to make star trail images with a digital camera. My first attempts to do long exposures ran into problems with digital sensor noise, the length of time the shutter could remain open, and camera battery life — especially on cold nights. The camera had an option for “long exposure noise reduction”, however this required taking a second exposure with the shutter closed and then subtracting the sensor closed image from the sensor open image. The result is missing every other exposure needed for a smooth composite star trail image.
Other than the Big Dipper, Orion was probably the second constellation I learned to recognize.
Gone for a walkabout at the Rock Mill Preserve with the Montgomery Friends of Open Space. A local park within walking distance of my house.
Panorama taken from the Visitor Center. It is composite of seven images taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 35 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and the composite panorama generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. The full panorama is 2554 x 16795 pixels (available as a 15″ x 112″ print). The individual images are shown as a slide show.
Wary buck wondering why I am pointing a large black lens at him.
