First let me say this is a quick guide. There are too many variables to to try and tell you a technique that will work every time. And I really only know Nikon's newest cameras. So my knowledge base is limited, as is my experience with star trails.
Second: If you are of the mindset that you should try to never edit photos, and you are not willing to try, don't even think about doing this. There is a whole lot of editing going on here. Hours of editing and waiting for your computer to process your commands. Unless you have access to a super computer. If you do please call me.
Okay, I started trying star trails several years ago. It was good practice but I was missing something. I recently figured out what was missing. A good foreground. Time spent searching out the perfect foreground will make your photo "POP". Your foreground should be out away from the city with a view to the north if you live in the northern hemisphere. Carry a compass with you to help.
Now that you have your foreground selected clean your lenses and charge your batteries. Seriously, charge them again just before you leave. This is going to take a lot of battery. Now check your memory cards. You need room for about 400 photos. Check again that you put those recently charged batteries back in your camera. Are you ready to go?
Not yet. Unless you own the land and know that no one will be around to permanently borrow your camera remember that you will be out there for a long time. Pack something to eat, plenty to drink and appropriate clothes. I live n the desert. It gets cool at night in the summer. In November it gets seriously cold at night. Flashlights with extra batteries. A chair. And if you plan to sleep an alarm clock. Don't forget your tripod. Are you ready now?
Maybe! What phase is the moon in? You want a New Moon. A brightly lit sky will make it difficult to get the star detail you want. And the moon is very bright. You've got a New Moon? Now we are ready.
Leave early and get set up long before sunset. You should take this opportunity to check your composition. Make sure the edges of the frame are clean. Listen for cars. Is there a road you didn't see before? You won't want the cars headlights in your photo once it gets dark. Once you're ready it's time to wait/ When the sun sets you can use a flash to take a photo of your foreground. The goal is to light just what you want to be seen with the stars. You can use a light painting technique if a flash won't work. Once you're happy with the foreground we wait again.
Do yourself a favor, wait. Somewhere around around two to two and half hours after sunset is the best time to start. The sky is still light until then. Now find the technique that you plan to use. Your aperture should be open, wide open. A 30 second exposure and select the ISO you need to get good stars in the photo. Once you have it set put your lens cap back on and take three photos of the dark with the technique you plan to use. You will use these later to help clean up noise.
Take the lens cap back off and get ready to take a lot of photos. I like three hours worth. That is 360, 30 second exposures. On some cameras there is a built intervalometer. Nikon's system is a little strange. Not intuitive at all. But if you set it up right it will work fine. I set mine to start "Now", the interval is 33 seconds, 360 exposures with 1 at each interval. For some reason the 33 second interval is the key to keeping this thing working perfectly. I'm sure you could use 34, but not 32. What you should hear is the shutter closing and then immediately opening again.
Now you wait again. Are you sensing a theme here? There is a lot of waiting. I set up two cameras last night. I listened to both of them. Close and open, close and open. It was better than thinking about the killer javelina stalking me. Or the large wild cat that kept walking around the river's edge. Don't judge me, it gets lonely out there.
Once the shutter closes for the last time you are all set. Pack up and get out of there. If you were smart you were packing during the last hour of exposures. Running as gracefully as you can get back to your car and lock the doors. You never know when javelina will develop oppose-able thumbs.
Once back home you can relax and start downloading the images onto your computer. I use Lightroom to edit one photo then I can apply that editing to all of the others. Then I convert them all to jpeg. There are several different programs you can use to stack all of the images together. I recently used StarStax. It worked well and is freeware. It allowed me to use those dark photos to cancel out the noise a long exposure creates. Then one more pass on the stacked image to fine tune the final product. The editing process is personal preferences. Play with it, a lot. You will learn to get it the way you meant for it to look when you started. You may even find a new style a long the way.
I can help with more specifics if you ask. And if you happen to live in, or be passing through the Valley of the Sun I will even go out with you to help you through it. Just let me know.
Star trails are usually done somewhere beautiful. Like the landscapes I love so much I find it relaxing to be out there where the beauty is.
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