[MrBob6939]

Hello everyone, I have recently sold half my house contents to buy myself a DSLR Camera and finally settled on the Nikon D7100 Body Only then purchasing a Nikon 18-200mm VR11 Lense. To say I am delighted with both would be an understatement, I'm over the moon.

Last few weeks I have been getting to grips with certain aspects of the camera and how it works. I enjoy taking pictures of almost anything, to give a pictorial history of where I've been and what I've been up to and my little trusty compact has served me very well amassing many Giga-bytes of pictures.

Something I am interested in giving a go of is 'Star Trails' and I've read quite a bit and understand there are several ways of achieving this from long exposures of many minutes to a time lapse scenario and then stacking the pictures to produce same as the former, in that 80 odd pictures or so make one.

Question is, given me set up, is the Lense I own suitable, and if so what would be the better starting place to for aperture, shutter and ISO to help achieve something to begin with. I do appreciate the season doesn't lend itself very well as less chance of a crystal clear night but with the Comet heading our way, if opportunity arises I'd like to have some degree of a fighting chance to catch it on film.

Many thanks in advance,

MrBob6939

[EdMak]

Welcome, here is a start, top one looks promising. Ed.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid...tar+Trails'

[Barbara G.]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum! Nice to have you here on site with us! Please let us know how your project is coming along when you have some time! We would love to see some photos with your new camera, too!

[kNox]

Hi MrBob, welcome to the forum!

A while back I tried to get into star trail photography and I found this useful link: http://www.artinnaturephotography.com/ga...htarticle/

Altough I ultimately failed, I recommend that you go as far away from cities as possible - the closer you are, the worse it's going to be. Here's a relatively recent light pollution map for Europe: http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights/2012

[Wall-E]

Here's a relatively recent light pollution map for Europe: http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights/2012

That's actually a world wide map. Just click and drag to move across the continents.

[kNox]

Here's a relatively recent light pollution map for Europe: http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights/2012

That's actually a world wide map. Just click and drag to move across the continents.

Yeah, I just had "one of those moments". I actually found another image at first but found this (better) one and forgot to change the wording.

[PhotoPlay]

Hello and welcome to shuttertalk You made my day reading you sold half of your house contents just to buy DSLR. Just be careful when it comes to Lens mate Great to have you here.

[KeithB]

Hi Bob,

Welcome to the madhouse! In view of your interest in Star Trails I would say your present outfit should be perfectly capable. All you need is a really thick duffel coat or somewhere safe to leave your camera with the shutter open for a couple of hours. As kNox says, you ideally need to be as far away from metropolitan light pollution as you can get. I had a go a few years ago while on holiday in the lake district in September. The night skies were astounding, but by christ it was cold! Fairly large aperture to capture as much light as possible and focus on infinity should get you started. Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

[Phil J]

Hi Bob,

Welcome to the forum. To mirror KeithB, the gear you have is very capable of doing what you require. He's also quite right when he warns of inclement weather. No picture is worth getting hypothermia for, so wrap up warm, keep your lens pointed at the sky and good shooting. Oh, you'll also find that a tripod will be very useful in getting the shots you seek to make.

Best regards.

Phil.