Star trails technique

[Stormchase]

I hope this is an OK place to post this question. I am new to astrophotography. I have seen a certain style and was wondering how it might be achieved. I was thinking a zoom pull with fast glass and an extremely strudy tripod? 3 or more layers? What would you thing would be a way to achieve this effect.
Thanks

star trails harrison - Google Search

 

[Stormchase]

Just realized the link wasn't exact. It's the second pic for me. Like the stars are exploding from the center. Not the circular trails...

 

[table1349]

Have you tried this?

 

[Stormchase]

Haha I thought about it but felt odd. I like different outlooks on thing here as well. I might tho.

 

[sw_]

Zoom Burst

 

[Stormchase]

Zoom Burst

so would that be like i was thinking? cool, i might play around with it

 

[sw_]

Zoom Burst

so would that be like i was thinking? cool, i might play around with it

Of sorts. You can do it in post. It's on my list of things to try in the field if we ever get a clear night that doesn't have a bright moon..lol. There are a few good articles and videos that will walk you through it if you're so inclined.

 

[waday]

It wasn't photoshopped... He gives an explanation here:

Shooting stars burst through space like fireworks over rural Victoria

 

[TCampbell]

The colors are, of course, heavily saturated (and there are some techniques to go beyond what can be done through normal saturation -- I don't know what techniques this photographer may have used.) One of my favorites is a technique where you extract the luminance channel from the image and then drop it into the image as a saturation. The result is that the more luminous the object... the stronger the saturation.

As for the 'zoom' effect. Most zoom lenses are not "parfocal" meaning that as you zoom them, what "was" in focus at one focal length will no longer be focused at the new zoomed focal length. But it turns out there are _some_ lenses that technically qualify as "parfocal" (the focus remains regardless of zoom.)

Roger Cicala of Lensrentals lists a few lenses that are 'parfocal' (but I think elsewhere he claims that no photographic lenses are truly parfocal). Anyway, here's the link: Photo Lenses for Video You'll notice it is a very short list.

I am struggling to believe you could "touch" the focus ring and not disturb the stability of the camera enough to ruin the image. I think you may have to try to rig a way to rotate the zoom ring without actually "touching" it with your hands. Maybe you can make it work, but my guess is you'll have to do a bit of testing to find a technique to get this to work without shaking the camera enough to ruin the image.

If you do get it to work, please post back your technique. I'd love to know how you did it.

Good luck!

 

[Stormchase]

Thank you for the link.
I couldn't find a lot on the techniques.
I was thinking stability would be a challenge for sure. I use a backpack tripod so maybe nice and low will work, weighted and so on. He mentioned that it will take many tries. I think ill hit my spot and see!
oh and maybe a regular lens would be good then. It needs to pull out of focus as it zooms. I was planning to try my 10-22mm, might not be enough. I might need to slow the effect tho, many many test shots!

 

[TCampbell]

Before packing your gear and heading out to a remote location in the middle of the night, you can probably work out a lot of details in your own backyard. It'll up your chances of getting a good result when you're at your favorite spot (you'll spend more time "capturing" what you want rather than fiddling and work out the details.)