The night sky offers a whole host of opportunities that can be explored with long exposures and some patience.
Good foreground elements such as this aquaduct work really well with star trails made at the extreme wide end. Exposure: Details Not Available Photograph/Chirag
Each night the stars shine right above our heads. Yet, we rarely bother to take a moment and admire their beauty. A tripod, your camera, a warm jacket (if it is a cold night) and some solitude is all you need to capture the sky as the earth rotates.
Decide What You Want to Capture
The first step involves deciding what you will want to capture—short star trails, long trails, or ones where only Polaris is constant while the rest of the sky seems to circle it. The length of your exposure will depend on this.
Weighing Down the Tripod
Since the exposure can range anywhere between a few seconds to a couple of hours, you need an extremely sturdy tripod that is not likely to topple over on a windy night. You also need to keep the ISO at a minimum, switch off noise reduction and focus at the hyperfocal distance.
You do not need a wide expanse of land for star trails. You can also look for interesting seascapes. This will also transform the water into a smooth glassy surface Exposure: 13sec at f/2.8 (ISO 100) Photograph/Chirag
Trails, Constellations or Just Luck?
Constellations like Orion or the Great Bear or even the Andromeda galaxy are great subjects once you locate them. You might just get lucky and get a meteor shower in the frame!
Quick Tip
The longer the focal length, the longer the trails. With a wide angle lens, you need really long exposures for the trails to be noticed. With a telephoto focal length, the trails appear in a few seconds, but composition becomes a lot more difficult.
This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Better Photography.