Star Trail Photography

What is Star Trail Photography?

Basically, star trails are the result of long exposure photography capturing the Earth's rotation. The stars aren’t moving, you are. Or rather, the planet is spinning under the night sky, and if your shutter stays open long enough, you’ll catch that movement as glowing arcs across the photo.

What You’ll Need

You don’t need crazy NASA-level gear, but a few things are non-negotiable:

• A camera that can shoot manual + long exposures

• A sturdy tripod (any movement = ruined trails)

• A remote shutter or intervalometer (so you don’t shake the camera when you press the button)

• Extra batteries or a battery grip

• Clear, dark skies (city light pollution kills it)

Optional but helpful: a wide-angle lens (preferably fast, like f/2.8)

How to Actually Do It

1. Find a Good Spot

Get away from city lights. Use apps like Dark Sky Finder, PhotoPills, or Stellarium to scout clear skies and check the moon phase (you want a new moon or close to it).

2. Frame Your Shot

Point your camera toward the North or South celestial pole (in the Northern Hemisphere, that’s near Polaris, the North Star). That’s how you get those circular swirl patterns. If you shoot east or west, the trails will be more horizontal.

You can include something interesting in the foreground like trees, a cabin, or a mountain to anchor the composition and give your trails some context.

3. Settings (for single long exposure)

If you’re doing one epic long exposure:

• Shutter speed: 15–60 minutes (yep, that long)

• Aperture: f/2.8 to f/4

• ISO: 100–400 (depends on how much ambient light there is)

The risk here is sensor noise or your camera overheating, especially in warm temperatures.

4. Better Option: Shoot a Time-lapse Stack

This is the smart way. Instead of one mega exposure, take hundreds of shorter exposures (like 30 seconds each) over the course of an hour or two. Then stack them later in editing.

Set your camera to:

• Manual mode

• Shutter speed: 20–30 seconds

• Aperture: wide open

• ISO: 800–1600 (depending on how dark your skies are)

Use interval shooting with no gap between shots. Your camera will keep snapping away automatically.

5. Stacking the Trails

Once you’ve got your images, you can combine them using:

• StarStaX (free and easy for Mac/Windows)

• Photoshop (open all frames as layers and blend them with Lighten mode)

This stacking technique keeps noise low and gives you way more control over the final image.

Extra Tips

• Turn off long exposure noise reduction (it doubles the time between shots)

• Watch out for planes, satellites, and light leaks

• Use a lens hood to help reduce dew and side glare

• Keep an eye on weather, even a few clouds can mess up a long shoot

• Bring snacks. It’s a long night.