Vent: I used to hate those star trail photos everyone posts

For like 2 years I thought star trails were the laziest astro photo out there. Just a bunch of lines, no real skill. Then I tried stacking 300 frames from my backyard in Phoenix last July. Took me 4 hours of shooting and another hour in Photoshop to blend them right. That's when I realized how much work goes into getting those circles clean. Anyone else change their mind on a type of astro shot after actually trying it?

2 comments

2 Comments

james6726d ago

Respect the effort but I still think most star trail shots look the same after a while. Sure it takes patience to stack 300 frames and fix the light pollution, but the final result is just circles around a pole. I would rather spend that 5 hours getting a single clean Milky Way shot or a detailed moon mosaic. Not saying it is easy, just that the payoff does not always match the work you put in.

margaret_bennett34d ago

@james672 "circles around a pole" - yeah, that's my secret plot to make the same photo over and over and call it a different night. Can't blame you for wanting a Milky Way instead, I'm just too lazy to chase anything that isn't already right above my backyard.