Star Trails

We are in a night photography course and wanted to photograph star trails. Unfortunately, we live in an area with extreme light pollution. In addition, it is often cloudy and rainy. As an experiment, we build a box with a plexiglass lid and a black interior to house our camera. The box kept water off the camera and served as a “lens hood.” We sealed the box with silicone and mounted it to an open area at our roofline.

camera box

The first night we tried to use the box, a heavy dew fell and coated the plexiglass blurring our photos. We used a silicone spray on the plexiglass to keep waterdrops from sticking and tried again the next night. Here is our result.

BallD 6 - Star Stack Reprocessed.jpg

Given the odds against us, we were pretty happy with this photo. A few clouds and the light of the full moon affected the photo but we think we can apply this technique later this year in a moonless and cloudless sky.

11 thoughts on “Star Trails”

    1. I would love to have a chance to photograph the stars under a dark sky. However, we live in the Mid-Atlantic states of the US and light pollution is extreme. When I set the camera up, I only expected a few stars. I plan to try again in the Fall when our skies are clearer.

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      1. I should do some of my night sky. The Milky Way goes right over my place a few times a year. I don’t have any light pollution, lucky me.

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