Don’t know anything about Star Trails?
Neither did I – until I found this special function in my Canon S120 Powershot Camera despite owning it for 2 years.
On our first night in Margaret River, we went to a restaurant for dinner and on the way back, my brother noticed that there many stars in the sky! We were staying at a pretty quiet neighbourhood and it was a moonless night (less light disturbance) – perfect for star gazing. He finally took out his tripod which was left untouched for the first 3 nights and set up his DSLR. After adjusting all the functions which I can’t remember (ISO, f and shutter speed), he was ready to take the photo of the millions and trillions of stars on the milky way.
Me on the other hand, could not adjust the functions correctly and retreated back to the house to search online for solutions.
The YouTube videos that inspired me..
It was only then I realised that Canon had 3 awesome functions which could capture stars really well!
All I needed that night was a sturdy tripod and a body to withstand both cold temperature and mosquiotes!
Star Nightscape
To be honest, this photo captured more stars than what my naked lasik eyes can see. It was a simple shot which required an exposure of approximately 10 to 20 seconds.
Star Trails
If you want to find out more about star trails, you can click the link for a more detailed explanation. Othewise, it is simply known as the movement of the stars. Do not be confused as in reality, the earth rotates around the sun – leaving behind its trail. Looking at the photo specs, it is captured with 30s exposure, f/1.8, ISO400. Can’t really recall how long this photo took but you can see their trail as the line it leave behind.Perhaps one of the thicker and brighter line captured in my photo could be Jupiter.
Star Time Lapse
One of the shots that required the longest time; but probably delivering the best result. This simple 8 seconds video took 120 minutes on my camera. You can also choose 60 minutes (4 seconds video) or 90 minutes (6 seconds video). I like it that you are able to brighter streak which is supposedly the milky way according to my brother who took the understanding the universe module.
Ever since I posted such photos and videos, everyone (including those already owning a DSLR) was interested in my camera.
The other time lapse video that I took during the trip.
Did you see that shooting star tonight? Were you dazzled by the same constellations?
If you focus properly, there could possibly be a shooting star in the video but I’m really not too sure if that line means anything at all.
Really thankful for the cloudless sky + moonless night. It takes a combination of both for a successful shoot. I guess I really like stars. There’s a reason why my url contains the word “stars”. Ha.
Another suspicious line in my photo. Tell me – is this a shooting star?
Can’t wait for my Aurora Borealis trip coming in n years time. It has been on my bucket list many years ago but I haven’t had the opportunity to go on a trip to Iceland yet. Many people predict that the Aurora lights will be dimming and this is the last year to see it. Really doubtful on this information and they might say something else next year. We shall see.
Anyway, all photos and videos in this entry were taken by me (except those from YouTube) using Canon Powershot S120.