Day Zero Project: Completed No. 95

Goal completed: Learn how to do star trails and do at least one photo of them.

Date completed: August 11, 2011.

Number: 95 (remember, these goals will not all be done in order. It’s a random list where the numbers actually are).

Description: Star trails have always intrigued me. Patience, timing and the right setup seems to be key in doing these. It was a photographic technique I had never done and was interested.

Why I wanted to do it: I am always looking for ways to improve my photography. Whether it be through technical skills with the camera, or a technique such as star trails, I try to become a better photographer. I have seen some amazing star trail shots on Flickr and elsewhere and always wanted to do it, but never wanted to devote the time for it. It seemed like a good goal, knowing I had wanted to do this.

How I did it: I first worked on researching the technique. Anybody who knows me knows that I probably research things too much. There are different ways to do star trails. I opted for the one single long exposure. The plan will eventually be to try and do the stacking process, where I take many shorter exposures and combine them. The super-long exposure left things a bit grainy, obviously, which is OK, but I’d like to figure out all the ways of doing it! I took about four shots the night I went and did it. I used Fitch’s Covered Bridge as a backdrop. Even late at night, however, cars came through. I actually like that there is light movement in the photo as I think it add to it.

The above photo is a 20-minute exposure.

You can get quite bored in 20 minutes when it’s pitch-black out. Thankfully, a friend came along and we just chatted the time away. It’s the best way to do it, I think, because you can let the time fly and not even realize it if you are talking with people. I have some other places I’d like to try with this technique and if I do it, I’ll be sure to get one or two people to come along.

Since I took this shot — and the other that I somewhat liked that night — I know there are a lot of things I can work on to get better shots. Now to find the places and get all I need to do to do this!

About P.J.’s Day Zero Project: Day Zero is a project where people come up with 101 things to do over 1001 days. I started the project on Oct. 10, 2010 with an anticipated finish date of July 8, 2013. Goals will not be revealed until they are completed. A private list is at the Day Zero website and the list will be made public upon completion of the project. It’s my thoughts that if things are kept private, should I not do them, change or find a way around it, I’d only be cheating myself.