A hallows eve- night shot

[polarbeardiggers]

went out at 2am on halloween night,the witching hour,out of the city,to get some star trails,shot at f/4.8 iso 400, 739 second exposure,using my flash sb600 with three colored gels,and had some fun with it.

[GB1]

PBD - It works wrt to the neat stars It doesn't quite have the sharpness or foreground subject matter to make it a 10, but I see a potential Xmas shot here with the trees (or another tree) decorated. The rock in the middle is distracting imo.

So, if you could do this very scene at Xmas with an Xmas tree but only leave it's lights on for a few seconds and then let the exp go overnight - WOOOOOAH. It might be ?

I have to try those gels one day

G

[Dubbs5050]

nice, a lot of people have mixed feelings about these star trail shots, but I love them.

I have been wanting to take one of these shots, but I cant seem to get my camera to stay exposed more than 30 seconds.... there has to be a way, maybe I should consult a manual....

[MarcusK]

I agree with GB, the rock is distracting... otherwise, it is a really nice shot!!! christmas is a good time too... and its near

Dubbs5050, As far as I know, most cameras will expose to 30 seconds max, and then move to bulb mode, which will require a remote shutter release to avoid shake. Because in bulb mode, the shutter will remain open for as long as you keep the button pressed.. Some remotes come with lock to make it easier...

[GB1]

Exactly. But you also have to worry about battery life. Most of today's cameras use juice when exposing, so if you try a long long exposure of say 6-8 hours there is a very good chance that your battery won't make it. I think 3 hrs is the max you might expect, but consult the manual and do some experiments.

I don't even try B exposures on my digital, btw ... I use one of the two film cameras that have mechanical B settings. Another film camera I have, the Nikon F100, also uses electronic B.

Dubbs5050, As far as I know, most cameras will expose to 30 seconds max, and then move to bulb mode, which will require a remote shutter release to avoid shake. Because in bulb mode, the shutter will remain open for as long as you keep the button pressed.. Some remotes come with lock to make it easier...

[polarbeardiggers]

thanks for viewing and your comments are very constructive,the rock is very important to the area,on the other side has a plaque,were pope john paul once stood and gave a speech,thus the hill itself is called jpII hill. and i used the otherside of the rock to hide my flash flares that the camera was picking up,otherwise i could walk all around with the dog on my heels and nothing showed up, i like the idea of waiting for some snow and placing low wattage bulbs on the tree's so not to blow out the image at 12 minute exposure,perhaps if i had turned on my noise reduction it could of sharpened up the image a bit more,i truely think the 12 minutes was good enough had i gone longer then the stars would be more like lines thru the whole image. this shot really is a trial and learn moment.