How I Do Star Trail Photography

From the very first time I saw a star trail image, I knew that the challenge was for me. You have to be able to visualize your composition in pitch dark, do a lot of little simple things right without forgetting any of the steps, and hope that your camera performs the way you expect it to. I say hope, because once you push the shutter button, you are committed - you can't change on the fly like you can in many other forms of photography.

This style of photography can be beautiful, and extremely rewarding if you just do a little preparation ahead of your shoot. The following information represents the things that I do when I pursue star trails. It isn't a panacea, and it may not work for everyone. But if you choose to follow this methodology, I am pretty confident you will come back with something that will work for you.

Seriously, let me offer a couple of other things to think about for the next time you decide to give this a try:

Welcome to My World

This is my first attempt at a blog. It is intended to be a forum to share thoughts and to share the output of what has become a tremendous fascination with me - photography. The images you will see here come directly from my mind's eye. They are intended to invoke emotion. Sometimes they will be just pretty pictures - sometimes they might pass for high art. This one is a pretty picture (I think)

I have been frustrated all my life by the inability to find a medium that I could transfer my vision and still have someone refer to it as art. I may still be in search of that medium...You decide...and let me know about it.

HFM