Photographing The Stars
Star photography requires an area with dark skies with near zero light pollution. High elevation, (above 5000 feet elevation), and less than half of a full moon. Although the lower the light, the more visible the stars, some moon light enables the composition of a good photograph.
Stars will start to show movement in about 30 seconds. Given that, you'll need a digital camera with at lease a f/4.0 lens and and ISO of 4000 or better to capture stars without movement.
Figure 1.
Figure 1 was captured with my Canon 5DSR at ISO 6400 with a Canon TS-E 24mm, f/3.5, and 15 second exposure. This short exposure setting captures the stars without movement. Notice the milky way in the center of the photo.
Figure 2
Figure 2was captured with my Canon 5DSR at ISO 100 with a Canon TS-E 24mm, f/8, and 30 minute exposure. The 30 minute exposure creates star trails as the earth turns which changes the relative position of the stars leaving a trail for each star. The blue in the sky comes from the moon light of a third quarter moon (half full).
Roosevelt Bynum
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