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How to Create Stunning Star Trail Images Part 1: Capturing Images
How to Create Stunning Star Trail Images Part 1: Capturing Images
by Keenan Hursh
So, you’ve always dreamt of heading out in the dead of night to capture the motion of the stars as they appear to traverse across the sky. Or maybe you’ve captured images of the night sky before and want to mix things up a bit. Whatever the case may be, star trail images are one of the most unique and intriguing forms of astrophotography there is. These mesmerizing portrayals of the apparent movements of stars as time passes are stunning and capture the imagination.
But how do photographers actually create these images? Is there some sort of secret sauce or hidden technique that only the professionals know? How does one portray such a long period of time in a single image? In today’s article, we’re going to answer these questions and go over all the basics of how to shoot star trail images.
Because this is a relatively complex subject, I’ll be splitting this article up into two parts. This first part will focus on what star trail images are and how you can head out with your camera and capture a series of photographs that will ultimately become a star trail image. Part 2 (which will come out in the next couple of days) will cover all the post-processing and image editing that is required to create your final image. Both of these articles will provide you with an in-depth and step-by-step guide so that you can get out there and do it yourself.
Let’s get into it!
But how do photographers actually create these images? Is there some sort of secret sauce or hidden technique that only the professionals know? How does one portray such a long period of time in a single image? In today’s article, we’re going to answer these questions and go over all the basics of how to shoot star trail images.
Because this is a relatively complex subject, I’ll be splitting this article up into two parts. This first part will focus on what star trail images are and how you can head out with your camera and capture a series of photographs that will ultimately become a star trail image. Part 2 (which will come out in the next couple of days) will cover all the post-processing and image editing that is required to create your final image. Both of these articles will provide you with an in-depth and step-by-step guide so that you can get out there and do it yourself.
Let’s get into it!
What are Star Trail Images?
So, what even is a star trail image? How does one actually create such a unique portrayal of the movement of the stars?
Well, a star trail image is actually a combination of many images captured over a long period of time. Some of the star trail compositions I’ve created were shot over the course of 2-3 hours and consist of hundreds of images all seamlessly combined together. These images capture the apparent movement of stars as they cross the night sky with each image capturing each star in a slightly different position than the last.
As the earth rotates celestial bodies in the sky appear to move from east to west such as the sun and the stars. These objects are actually relatively stationary but from our perspective on the surface of the planet, they appear to be moving. This movement is impossible to see with the naked eye as it happens relatively slowly but over time you can observe these objects changing location relative to us. A star trail image simply captures and portrays this motion.
By setting your camera up in a stationary location and by having it capture sequential long-exposure images, one after another, you can slowly start to capture this movement. And then if you combine all of those images together in the right way the movement of the stars is portrayed as a continuous line of light or a star trail.
An interesting phenomenon to keep in mind is that some stars move faster and further than others. Polaris, or the north star, hardly moves at all because it is in line with the axis of the earth's rotation. This star doesn’t really change position at all as time passes which has made it ideal for navigating the earth for thousands of years. In the southern hemisphere a small constellation known as the southern cross does the same thing. And stars that are directly above the equator or far away from the poles will appear to move the fastest and furthest relative to the observer. So, if you point your camera at the north star all other stars will appear to form rings around this stationary point which is quite a common technique in star trail photography.
This is a lot of information and fairly technical but hopefully, as I describe the process in more detail this starts to make sense. The main thing to keep in mind is that you’re capturing the apparent motion of the stars as they move across the night sky. Let’s break the process down further.
So, what even is a star trail image? How does one actually create such a unique portrayal of the movement of the stars?
Well, a star trail image is actually a combination of many images captured over a long period of time. Some of the star trail compositions I’ve created were shot over the course of 2-3 hours and consist of hundreds of images all seamlessly combined together. These images capture the apparent movement of stars as they cross the night sky with each image capturing each star in a slightly different position than the last.
As the earth rotates celestial bodies in the sky appear to move from east to west such as the sun and the stars. These objects are actually relatively stationary but from our perspective on the surface of the planet, they appear to be moving. This movement is impossible to see with the naked eye as it happens relatively slowly but over time you can observe these objects changing location relative to us. A star trail image simply captures and portrays this motion.
By setting your camera up in a stationary location and by having it capture sequential long-exposure images, one after another, you can slowly start to capture this movement. And then if you combine all of those images together in the right way the movement of the stars is portrayed as a continuous line of light or a star trail.
An interesting phenomenon to keep in mind is that some stars move faster and further than others. Polaris, or the north star, hardly moves at all because it is in line with the axis of the earth's rotation. This star doesn’t really change position at all as time passes which has made it ideal for navigating the earth for thousands of years. In the southern hemisphere a small constellation known as the southern cross does the same thing. And stars that are directly above the equator or far away from the poles will appear to move the fastest and furthest relative to the observer. So, if you point your camera at the north star all other stars will appear to form rings around this stationary point which is quite a common technique in star trail photography.
This is a lot of information and fairly technical but hopefully, as I describe the process in more detail this starts to make sense. The main thing to keep in mind is that you’re capturing the apparent motion of the stars as they move across the night sky. Let’s break the process down further.
Gear and Equipment You Will Need
Let’s start out with the basics and go over some of the gear you’ll need to actually capture star trail images.
Let’s start out with the basics and go over some of the gear you’ll need to actually capture star trail images.
A Camera with Manual Settings:
To start you’ll definitely need a camera with manual settings and ideally interchangeable lenses. This is critical because in order to capture the night sky at all you need to be able to shoot at very slow shutter speeds and having the ability to alter your aperture and ISO will also have a huge effect on the way your camera is perceiving starlight. Whether it’s a DSLR or a mirrorless camera isn’t too important but many new mirrorless models have better sensors that are more sensitive to light and work better when shooting astrophotography. I still shoot with a DSLR and I’ve captured plenty of nice star trial images.
To start you’ll definitely need a camera with manual settings and ideally interchangeable lenses. This is critical because in order to capture the night sky at all you need to be able to shoot at very slow shutter speeds and having the ability to alter your aperture and ISO will also have a huge effect on the way your camera is perceiving starlight. Whether it’s a DSLR or a mirrorless camera isn’t too important but many new mirrorless models have better sensors that are more sensitive to light and work better when shooting astrophotography. I still shoot with a DSLR and I’ve captured plenty of nice star trial images.
A Wide-Angle and Fast Lens:
Now that you have a camera that will get the job done you’ll need a lens too. Typically when capturing the night sky a wider angle lens is ideal so that you can capture a greater field of view. However, I’ve seen many excellent images of the night sky that have been captured upwards of 50 or even 100mm. At the end of the day, the focal length is really a personal preference but if you’re new to shooting astrophotography or star trails it might be a good idea to start out with a wider focal length.
What’s really important when it comes to lenses is the maximum aperture you can achieve. Ideally, you’ll want an f/2.8 or higher but an f/4 will get the job done just fine. This is because as you increase your aperture the lens is letting more light into the camera and you’ll need to let in as much as you can when photographing distant stars. A higher maximum aperture will also help to prevent you from increasing your ISO too much and adding unwanted noise to your image.
Now that you have a camera that will get the job done you’ll need a lens too. Typically when capturing the night sky a wider angle lens is ideal so that you can capture a greater field of view. However, I’ve seen many excellent images of the night sky that have been captured upwards of 50 or even 100mm. At the end of the day, the focal length is really a personal preference but if you’re new to shooting astrophotography or star trails it might be a good idea to start out with a wider focal length.
What’s really important when it comes to lenses is the maximum aperture you can achieve. Ideally, you’ll want an f/2.8 or higher but an f/4 will get the job done just fine. This is because as you increase your aperture the lens is letting more light into the camera and you’ll need to let in as much as you can when photographing distant stars. A higher maximum aperture will also help to prevent you from increasing your ISO too much and adding unwanted noise to your image.
A Sturdy Tripod:
One of the most important and critical pieces of gear you’ll need for star trails or any form of long-exposure and astrophotography is a sturdy tripod. It’s absolutely essential that you keep your camera still while capturing a series of images so having a nice tripod that won’t move on you is critical. I would also recommend setting it up on very stable and stationary ground to prevent the whole tripod from slightly moving over time.
One of the most important and critical pieces of gear you’ll need for star trails or any form of long-exposure and astrophotography is a sturdy tripod. It’s absolutely essential that you keep your camera still while capturing a series of images so having a nice tripod that won’t move on you is critical. I would also recommend setting it up on very stable and stationary ground to prevent the whole tripod from slightly moving over time.
An Intervalometer:
Another very important piece of gear for star trails is an intervalometer. Many modern cameras actually have this as a built-in function but if yours doesn’t or if you simply want more fine-tuned control you can purchase a remote intervalometer as well. An intervalometer pretty much does all the work for you once you’ve set up your composition as it will automatically continue to capture image after image without constant input. You simply enter how long of an exposure you want to take, how long you’d like to wait between exposures, and how many total exposures you’d like. We’ll cover this in more depth a bit further along in the article.
Another very important piece of gear for star trails is an intervalometer. Many modern cameras actually have this as a built-in function but if yours doesn’t or if you simply want more fine-tuned control you can purchase a remote intervalometer as well. An intervalometer pretty much does all the work for you once you’ve set up your composition as it will automatically continue to capture image after image without constant input. You simply enter how long of an exposure you want to take, how long you’d like to wait between exposures, and how many total exposures you’d like. We’ll cover this in more depth a bit further along in the article.
A Headlamp:
It’s likely going to be very dark wherever you end up, and fumbling around with all your gear in the dark can be an absolute nightmare (trust me, I’ve been there) so having a nice headlamp is essential. This will not only help you see your surroundings and keep you safe while getting set up but it will also make it much easier to find buttons on your camera and make adjustments to your lens and tripod. Having a headlamp will make your life 100 times easier when shooting astrophotography.
You’ll also need a computer and photo editing software that can edit and combine your images such as Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, but we’ll dive into this more in the next article.
And that’s really all you need to get started.
It’s likely going to be very dark wherever you end up, and fumbling around with all your gear in the dark can be an absolute nightmare (trust me, I’ve been there) so having a nice headlamp is essential. This will not only help you see your surroundings and keep you safe while getting set up but it will also make it much easier to find buttons on your camera and make adjustments to your lens and tripod. Having a headlamp will make your life 100 times easier when shooting astrophotography.
You’ll also need a computer and photo editing software that can edit and combine your images such as Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, but we’ll dive into this more in the next article.
And that’s really all you need to get started.
Find Ideal Conditions
Now that you have all the essential pieces of gear it’s time to get out and start shooting the night sky! But, to save yourself some time and unnecessary suffering be sure to make a plan and check conditions before you head out. There are definitely specific locations and conditions that create better astrophotography opportunities.
Escape Light Pollution:
To start out you’ll want to make sure that you get out of town and away from any unwanted light pollution. This may be difficult depending on where you live but escaping the distracting and powerful lights of towns and cities is an absolute must for the best results. I often drive upwards of an hour out of town into the mountains to get the darkest sky possible.
Avoid A Bright Moon:
Another great way to experience a super dark sky is to monitor the moon including where it is in the sky and how bright it will be. If you want to maximize the brightness of the stars, which you likely do in a star trail image, you’ll want the moon to be as dark as possible. Either shooting on a new moon or when the moon is below the horizon are great ways to ensure you’ll have a dark sky. There are many apps that track this including one of my favorites, Photo Pills, and a quick Google search can also inform you on lunar activity and brightness.
It’s worth noting that having the moon in the sky isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it can illuminate your foreground and create nice ambient light. But in most cases, you probably won’t want the moon in your composition and it may overpower the starlight you’re trying to capture.
You’ll Want a Clear Sky:
So, you’ve found a great location with little to no light pollution and the moon won’t be causing any issues. The last thing to check is weather and atmospheric conditions. Obviously, you don’t want clouds blocking your view of the night sky. Be sure to plan your shoot on a clear night with very little or no chance of clouds and precipitation.
Find an Interesting Composition:
And last but not least you’ll want to find a location that offers compelling and interesting compositions. Of course, you can capture star trails pretty much anywhere but if you have an interesting foreground or landscape to accompany the stars this will bring your image to the next level and tell more of a story.
Alright, those are the key factors I always take into consideration when planning to shoot star trails. Now it’s time to get out there and start capturing some photos!
Now that you have all the essential pieces of gear it’s time to get out and start shooting the night sky! But, to save yourself some time and unnecessary suffering be sure to make a plan and check conditions before you head out. There are definitely specific locations and conditions that create better astrophotography opportunities.
Escape Light Pollution:
To start out you’ll want to make sure that you get out of town and away from any unwanted light pollution. This may be difficult depending on where you live but escaping the distracting and powerful lights of towns and cities is an absolute must for the best results. I often drive upwards of an hour out of town into the mountains to get the darkest sky possible.
Avoid A Bright Moon:
Another great way to experience a super dark sky is to monitor the moon including where it is in the sky and how bright it will be. If you want to maximize the brightness of the stars, which you likely do in a star trail image, you’ll want the moon to be as dark as possible. Either shooting on a new moon or when the moon is below the horizon are great ways to ensure you’ll have a dark sky. There are many apps that track this including one of my favorites, Photo Pills, and a quick Google search can also inform you on lunar activity and brightness.
It’s worth noting that having the moon in the sky isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it can illuminate your foreground and create nice ambient light. But in most cases, you probably won’t want the moon in your composition and it may overpower the starlight you’re trying to capture.
You’ll Want a Clear Sky:
So, you’ve found a great location with little to no light pollution and the moon won’t be causing any issues. The last thing to check is weather and atmospheric conditions. Obviously, you don’t want clouds blocking your view of the night sky. Be sure to plan your shoot on a clear night with very little or no chance of clouds and precipitation.
Find an Interesting Composition:
And last but not least you’ll want to find a location that offers compelling and interesting compositions. Of course, you can capture star trails pretty much anywhere but if you have an interesting foreground or landscape to accompany the stars this will bring your image to the next level and tell more of a story.
Alright, those are the key factors I always take into consideration when planning to shoot star trails. Now it’s time to get out there and start capturing some photos!
Getting Set Up
You’ve gathered the necessary equipment, done your research, and arrived at just the right place at just the right time, but there are still a few other things you’ll need to do to get set up.
One of the first things I’ll do, once on location, is find a nice composition. This can be quite difficult in the dark so it may take some time before you’ve found something you really like. I often have to take many sample images before I find something I’m satisfied with. I’ll capture an exposure, adjust my camera to what I think will look good, and capture another. I often have to repeat this process several times.
This is a great time to locate the north star if you want to incorporate that into your image. It can be difficult to locate the north star but a nifty trick I’ve learned is to find the Big Dipper and go from there. If you take the two stars that form the bottom of the dipper and draw a line between them, you can simply follow this line directly to the north star. It will be about 5 times the distance between the two stars of the dipper. This is hard to visualize so I’ve attached an image below to portray how this is done.
You’ve gathered the necessary equipment, done your research, and arrived at just the right place at just the right time, but there are still a few other things you’ll need to do to get set up.
One of the first things I’ll do, once on location, is find a nice composition. This can be quite difficult in the dark so it may take some time before you’ve found something you really like. I often have to take many sample images before I find something I’m satisfied with. I’ll capture an exposure, adjust my camera to what I think will look good, and capture another. I often have to repeat this process several times.
This is a great time to locate the north star if you want to incorporate that into your image. It can be difficult to locate the north star but a nifty trick I’ve learned is to find the Big Dipper and go from there. If you take the two stars that form the bottom of the dipper and draw a line between them, you can simply follow this line directly to the north star. It will be about 5 times the distance between the two stars of the dipper. This is hard to visualize so I’ve attached an image below to portray how this is done.
Once I’ve found a composition, I like I’ll need to make sure that the stars in my image are tack-sharp. This can often be difficult to do and simply setting your lens at the infinity point won’t nail the focus every time. One simple trick I use is to turn my live view on so my LCD screen is portraying what my sensor is seeing (with mirrorless cameras you can use the EVF but I find the LCD screen to be easier). Then I crank up my ISO to a very high number until I start to see stars on my screen (I won't actually shoot at this ISO but this is a good way to set your focus). I then zoom in on part of the screen so that a star is visible and slowly start adjusting the manual focus ring on my lens back and forth until the star is as clear and sharp as possible. Once I’ve achieved this, I don’t adjust my focus for the rest of the shoot.
Now that I’ve found a composition, and adjusted my focus to just the right point I’m going to start messing around with my camera settings and take more sample images until I find something I’m really happy with. You’ll likely want a wide open or close to wide open aperture and you’ll want to adjust your shutter speed and ISO until you get something that looks nice.
A great trick, that I learned far too late, is to lower your camera's LCD screen brightness. This is because an image might look great when viewed outside at night but then will be severely underexposed or dark when you view it on your computer during the day.
Now that I’ve found a composition, and adjusted my focus to just the right point I’m going to start messing around with my camera settings and take more sample images until I find something I’m really happy with. You’ll likely want a wide open or close to wide open aperture and you’ll want to adjust your shutter speed and ISO until you get something that looks nice.
A great trick, that I learned far too late, is to lower your camera's LCD screen brightness. This is because an image might look great when viewed outside at night but then will be severely underexposed or dark when you view it on your computer during the day.
Capturing the Images
Now that you have the image you want it’s time to let your intervalometer do the rest of the work for you. You’ll need to configure it in the right way to make sure it properly captures a sequence of images.
First, you’ll choose how long of an exposure you want. You can use the sample images you captured to determine how long of a shutter is necessary. I often shoot star trails at 20 to 30-second exposures or even longer. With other forms of astrophotography, you don’t usually want to capture any movement in the stars so you can’t exceed certain shutter speeds, but when it comes to star trails we’re deliberately trying to capture this motion so you can open your shutter for as long as you’d like.
Then you’ll want to set the amount of time between each exposure. For star trails it’s important to keep this gap as small or short as possible, otherwise you might end up with gaps between your trails leading to a dashed line rather than a solid line. If you can immediately start the next exposure after the previous one has ended this is ideal. You’ll want to choose either zero or one second maximum between exposures. And finally, you’ll have to tell your camera how many exposures to take. I often set this to “continuous” so that my camera will continue to take pictures until I manually intervene. If you have a specified amount of time in mind however you can set a specific number of images.
One important thing to keep in mind here is that the longer you shoot for, or the more compositions you capture, the longer your star trails will be. For quite long trails I’ve often let my camera capture images for upwards of two to three hours. You’ll have to experiment with this to determine what you like. That being said you can always remove images you took but you can’t add on images that don’t exist, so it might be worth it to stay out a bit longer than you think is necessary to ensure you have enough to work with when combining images.
And that’s really all you need to enter into your intervalometer. Be sure to check your image one last time before you start the process because once you begin capturing your series of images you can’t really change anything. Once you're ready to go you simply start the process, sit back, relax, and enjoy the beauty of the night sky. You may be here for a while so bringing a book is never a bad idea.
And that’s really all there is to it. Once you’ve let your camera capture the motion of the stars for a sufficient period of time you can wrap up and head home to get some well-deserved rest.
In part two of this article, I’ll cover the next steps and show you how to actually combine all of these photographs together into a single image. Stay tuned for that one, coming out in a couple of days!
Now that you have the image you want it’s time to let your intervalometer do the rest of the work for you. You’ll need to configure it in the right way to make sure it properly captures a sequence of images.
First, you’ll choose how long of an exposure you want. You can use the sample images you captured to determine how long of a shutter is necessary. I often shoot star trails at 20 to 30-second exposures or even longer. With other forms of astrophotography, you don’t usually want to capture any movement in the stars so you can’t exceed certain shutter speeds, but when it comes to star trails we’re deliberately trying to capture this motion so you can open your shutter for as long as you’d like.
Then you’ll want to set the amount of time between each exposure. For star trails it’s important to keep this gap as small or short as possible, otherwise you might end up with gaps between your trails leading to a dashed line rather than a solid line. If you can immediately start the next exposure after the previous one has ended this is ideal. You’ll want to choose either zero or one second maximum between exposures. And finally, you’ll have to tell your camera how many exposures to take. I often set this to “continuous” so that my camera will continue to take pictures until I manually intervene. If you have a specified amount of time in mind however you can set a specific number of images.
One important thing to keep in mind here is that the longer you shoot for, or the more compositions you capture, the longer your star trails will be. For quite long trails I’ve often let my camera capture images for upwards of two to three hours. You’ll have to experiment with this to determine what you like. That being said you can always remove images you took but you can’t add on images that don’t exist, so it might be worth it to stay out a bit longer than you think is necessary to ensure you have enough to work with when combining images.
And that’s really all you need to enter into your intervalometer. Be sure to check your image one last time before you start the process because once you begin capturing your series of images you can’t really change anything. Once you're ready to go you simply start the process, sit back, relax, and enjoy the beauty of the night sky. You may be here for a while so bringing a book is never a bad idea.
And that’s really all there is to it. Once you’ve let your camera capture the motion of the stars for a sufficient period of time you can wrap up and head home to get some well-deserved rest.
In part two of this article, I’ll cover the next steps and show you how to actually combine all of these photographs together into a single image. Stay tuned for that one, coming out in a couple of days!
Create Star Trail Images with Backcountry Journeys
At Backcountry Journeys we love creating star trails and run a Desert Star Trails photography workshop purely dedicated to this niche style of photography. At the end of the day this is one of the more complicated and intricate forms of photography and although I can try my best to communicate the process to you all in this article writing can only accomplish so much.
If you would like to really learn how to capture stunning star trail images in person with a professional photographer, I strongly recommend reserving a spot on one of our trips. We work with the best guides in the business, and they can help you in person every step of the way ensuring that you aren’t making any big mistakes and providing education and direction.
We also travel to some of the best locations on earth for night sky photography in the deserts of the American Southwest. Be sure to check out our Desert Star Trails workshop and we hope to see you out there on a dark night in the desert sometime soon!
At Backcountry Journeys we love creating star trails and run a Desert Star Trails photography workshop purely dedicated to this niche style of photography. At the end of the day this is one of the more complicated and intricate forms of photography and although I can try my best to communicate the process to you all in this article writing can only accomplish so much.
If you would like to really learn how to capture stunning star trail images in person with a professional photographer, I strongly recommend reserving a spot on one of our trips. We work with the best guides in the business, and they can help you in person every step of the way ensuring that you aren’t making any big mistakes and providing education and direction.
We also travel to some of the best locations on earth for night sky photography in the deserts of the American Southwest. Be sure to check out our Desert Star Trails workshop and we hope to see you out there on a dark night in the desert sometime soon!
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AUTHOR
AUTHOR
Keenan Hursh is a Photographer, visual designer, and creative story teller based out of Bozeman, Montana. He draws inspiration from his frequent excursions into the natural world and always brings his camera along to capture whatever adventures he finds himself in. Keenan is passionate about documenting and sharing fleeting moments from the natural world and focuses primarily on wildlife, landscape, and adventure photography.
When it comes to gear, he primarily shoots digital with his Canon EOS R5 and EOS 6D mark ii but also has several 35mm film cameras that get out every now and then.
At a very young age, Keenan started bringing a camera along on his excursions and immediately fell in love with the art of photography. He started out with his parent’s cheap point and shoot and has continuously improved his craft and gear refining his shooting style and producing more compelling and intriguing images.
Growing up in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, surrounded by mountains and wilderness, Keenan has developed a deep passion for many outdoor activities. When he’s not out on a shoot or using his camera, Keenan enjoys skiing, climbing, hiking, backpacking, cycling, whitewater rafting, and paragliding. If he’s outside, away from the distractions of society and civilization, he’s in his happy place.
Keenan studied Emergent Digital Practices at the University of Denver while minoring in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Since earning his degree in 2019 he was worked with a wide range of clients, companies, and organizations throughout his career. Apart from photography he specializes in content creation, writing, brand development, and graphic design.
You can view Keenan’s portfolio on his website at www.keenanhurshphoto.com
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- Russ Nordstrand, Backcountry Journeys Founder & Director
TRIP CATALOG
Download our Trip Catalog for detailed information on our many destinations for photography tours, workshops, and safaris.
All Images & Content are property of Backcountry Photography Tours, Workshops & Safaris LLCs - Copyright 2024
BACKCOUNTRY JOURNEYS
"Backcountry Journeys offers guests the unique opportunity to explore our natural world from behind their own lens. We run a selection of hand-crafted Photo Tours, Workshops & Safaris connecting passionate people to exceptional experiences. Locations worldwide.
All Images & Content are property of Backcountry Journeys Photography Tours, Workshops & Safaris LLC - Copyright 2024
TRIP CATALOG
Download our Trip Catalog for detailed information on our many destinations for photography tours, workshops, and safaris.