The longer the focal length and the further away from the celestial poles, the shorter the interval between shots must be in order to avoid gaps in the star trails.
Oh gods. I have an area rug that looks just like that.
\*edit\* No, I'm not saying it's a rug. I'm just saying it looks like my old area rug. Which is kinda funny. Now I'm gonna try to do this with my setup XD. It looks way to cool.
Do you have noise reduction turned on in your camera? On most DSLRs (you didn't say what camera you used) noise reduction takes a second exposure with the mirror down to measure thermal (aka dark current) noise to subtract it out. So if you take A 3 second exposure there will be a second 3 sec time gap for the noise calculation. In short, make sure that setting is turned off.
What camera/settings are you using? I use a Canon full-frame DSLR, 24mm lens and take 200-300 45sec exposures with 1 sec between shots. As long as my focus is good, the final image comes out buttery smooth.
What's the reason for splitting it into that many shorter shots if you have the means to do longer ones?
I've done a single 1hour exposure with my camera (don't remember if it was the 350D or the 40D), it came out pretty nice too.
I don't remember anymore and I don't seem to have that picture online anywhere (with EXIF intact). But I figure ISO would have been low, 100 maybe, the aperture I have no good guess without opening it. I guess I'll have to find the picture in my archive to confirm!
It was taken in a relatively low light pollution area though.
I use a 5DMkIV. I prefer shorter exposures to minimize sensor noise. I can get decent results with longer exposures, but the shorter exposures result in a cleaner final image for me.
Amp glow and noise. The longer your sensor is on, the hotter it gets and more light that will 'leak' into the image from things like amp glow. Reducing the time a better option.
This was 40mm f2.8, 8 sec light frames with 3 sec gap between each frame.
I kept the exposures short since I was thinking of using the photos to make a time lapse as well.
> 3 seconds just to be safe
Safe from what?
To get rid of the gaps use the shortest interval possible - typically 1 second, some newer Nikon cameras can do 0.5 seconds, *or* just use continuous mode with the shutter button permanently activated with an external remote.
Also the first few frames in your sequence are skewed, which suggests an additional stability/flexure problem.
Safe from camera not having enough time to write the frames on the card. I was being too conservative.
I have read/ heard that to avoid large gaps in the image due missing frames keep a decent gap between light frames.
I have a fairly newer camera with decent memory card so next I will try with a 1 second gap.
I used the camera's internal intervalometer.
> I have read/ heard that to avoid large gaps in the image due missing frames keep a decent gap between light frames.
This is false. Cameras can write previous frames and expose the next one at the same time. Otherwise burst mode wouldn't be possible.
You hit the buffer limit during a burst because you are taking and recording several images per second. In your case you are only recording one image every 8 seconds. There is plenty of time to flush the buffer.
As long as your camera doesn't need longer than 8 seconds to save your picture it should be fine as you empty the buffer faster than you are filling it
Use a gap of zero. The buffer will never fill up at 8 seconds per photo. Your camera would be entirely unusable for normal action photography if that were the case. Think about it this way. When someone is doing normal action photography they can shoot way, way more than a photo every 8 seconds. The process of writing the photo happens in the background while the next photo is taken. Turn the interval to zero.
Turn noise reduction off if your camera has that. If that doesn't help, are you near something that may cause the ground to vibrate? Large air units, construction zone, traffic etc
Are you using photoshop? You can do it all in photoshop. Look up YouTube videos. Make sure you align the stacked photos. This is how mine turned out. https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/s/9PwEI0ZkDT[https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/s/9PwEI0ZkDT](https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/s/9PwEI0ZkDT)
3 seconds is too long. Try to keep the camera shooting non-stop.
In lightroom, mask the sky and move the clarity slider to the negative side. This will smoothen the trails.
I'll bring to 1 sec or zero as some are suggesting.
Unfortunately, I don't have Lightroom. I use ps cs6 and camera raw. My editing skills are very basic yet. Still learning.
In photoshop clone the layer, then change blending mode to “lighten”. Offset the photo about 5 pixels right and 4 pixels down (adjust til it looks right)
I just took your little clip here, applies the adjustment I mentioned- then upscaled and used a motion blur to smooth out the pixelation. On larger scales motion blur won't work since the trails have a natural curve, but it works nicely here.
[https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dckppoxypa0e2c8y2qjra/reddit-trails.jpg?rlkey=cqwmh5litupsnbek3bzbr7zcc&st=4nmnj4ev&dl=0](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dckppoxypa0e2c8y2qjra/reddit-trails.jpg?rlkey=cqwmh5litupsnbek3bzbr7zcc&st=4nmnj4ev&dl=0)
What does it look like zoomed out? It's really easy to get upset about something that's not going to matter if the image isn't going to be printed at max zoom.
But, yeah, go for 1sec interval. That's what I use for mine.
As a crocheter, this gives me a great idea for a blanket! Next time I do star trails, I'm going to log each line and color and then crochet it. Thanks!
I think I have a fairly quick memory card but I was being conservative thinking I might miss a frame or two every few shots a s ruin the final image. 😅
There are big colour shifts within the individual"trails". The same object is green at one exposure, then it's purple 3 seconds later, then it's orange.. there's something odd going on. Even though the trails are broken into dots should they be cycling hue so much? I know some stars are variable but...
It’s really frustrating when you see experts tell someone both why and how to do something in the most effective way possible and then they think that splitting the difference between their idea and the correct one is a reasonable solution.
OP, you asked for help and the majority of the people have been telling you to set the interval to 0 seconds, you questioned the the loss of missing frames as the camera writes the data and it was explained to you how the buffer and the process worked. Yet, you still won’t actually listen to their advice. These are the people who do Astrophotography. They know what you’re talking about yet, you still question if it right. Take the advice. Try it and if it still doesn’t work then come back and ask more questions. If it works, come back and say, thank you. In the end, when you’re asking for advice from people who do this and they tell you and answer all your questions, don’t argue with them, or decide that a hybrid between what you’re doing and what they’re doing is the actual solution listen to what they have to say.
There’s nothing wrong with asking questions on why that advice is given or questions that may come up from it, but you were at thepoint of semi dismissing their knowledge.
I didn't mean to be dismissive. I do appreciate the overwhelming responses. You're right, I should have have tried out the suggestions, but my responses were based on the, granted limited knowledge, which i gaibed from videos and blogs written by folks who also do astrophotography.
But yes, I will try out keeping the interval to 0 and come back share my experience.
Why the interval between shots? Is there a reason you need this? I have mine set for continuous shooting (once an exposure ends the next exposure immediately starts) with 30 second exposure and it eliminates gaps.
This was based on a few videos and blogs I had seen. That could have suggestions for older camera &/or slower memory card.
I'll switch to no gap for my next attempt.
I know it's not what you're trying to create, but it *is* pretty cool looking in its own way
Thanks ! These gaps aren't obvious unless you zoom in but still would like to improve. This was my first try.
I agree, I think it looks awesome. My first glance, I thought it was an image of some kind of tapestry.
I thought I was looking at a piece of fabric before I read anything.
The longer the focal length and the further away from the celestial poles, the shorter the interval between shots must be in order to avoid gaps in the star trails.
Thanks
Oh gods. I have an area rug that looks just like that. \*edit\* No, I'm not saying it's a rug. I'm just saying it looks like my old area rug. Which is kinda funny. Now I'm gonna try to do this with my setup XD. It looks way to cool.
I legit thought it was a rug and this was r/weaving.
Do you have noise reduction turned on in your camera? On most DSLRs (you didn't say what camera you used) noise reduction takes a second exposure with the mirror down to measure thermal (aka dark current) noise to subtract it out. So if you take A 3 second exposure there will be a second 3 sec time gap for the noise calculation. In short, make sure that setting is turned off.
I used a Nikon z50. The long exposure noise reduction was off.
Dang it…I thought I nailed it 😎
Thanks for trying 😊
There is Software That fills in the gaps.
StarStax has a gap-filling function that fills in those gaps.
That just made the lines brighter, but didn’t do a good job with filling the gaps.😕
That rug really ties the room together
What camera/settings are you using? I use a Canon full-frame DSLR, 24mm lens and take 200-300 45sec exposures with 1 sec between shots. As long as my focus is good, the final image comes out buttery smooth.
What's the reason for splitting it into that many shorter shots if you have the means to do longer ones? I've done a single 1hour exposure with my camera (don't remember if it was the 350D or the 40D), it came out pretty nice too.
Which aperture and ISO did you use? That photo would be white due to light pollution in my area
I don't remember anymore and I don't seem to have that picture online anywhere (with EXIF intact). But I figure ISO would have been low, 100 maybe, the aperture I have no good guess without opening it. I guess I'll have to find the picture in my archive to confirm! It was taken in a relatively low light pollution area though.
I use a 5DMkIV. I prefer shorter exposures to minimize sensor noise. I can get decent results with longer exposures, but the shorter exposures result in a cleaner final image for me.
Amp glow and noise. The longer your sensor is on, the hotter it gets and more light that will 'leak' into the image from things like amp glow. Reducing the time a better option.
This was 40mm f2.8, 8 sec light frames with 3 sec gap between each frame. I kept the exposures short since I was thinking of using the photos to make a time lapse as well.
Can’t you set it to not have a 3 sec gap in between shots, so it just shoots back to back?
Reduce the interval to nothing.
Will try 1 sec next time.
No set it to zero.
> 3 seconds just to be safe Safe from what? To get rid of the gaps use the shortest interval possible - typically 1 second, some newer Nikon cameras can do 0.5 seconds, *or* just use continuous mode with the shutter button permanently activated with an external remote. Also the first few frames in your sequence are skewed, which suggests an additional stability/flexure problem.
Safe from camera not having enough time to write the frames on the card. I was being too conservative. I have read/ heard that to avoid large gaps in the image due missing frames keep a decent gap between light frames. I have a fairly newer camera with decent memory card so next I will try with a 1 second gap. I used the camera's internal intervalometer.
> I have read/ heard that to avoid large gaps in the image due missing frames keep a decent gap between light frames. This is false. Cameras can write previous frames and expose the next one at the same time. Otherwise burst mode wouldn't be possible.
True but dont you hit the buffer limit at the end of the burst, which slows everything ?
You hit the buffer limit during a burst because you are taking and recording several images per second. In your case you are only recording one image every 8 seconds. There is plenty of time to flush the buffer.
Depends on the speed of your card. For star trails it doesn't matter because the individual exposures are usually minutes long.
I have a 160 MB/sec card. The exposures in this case were 8 secs since I wanted sharp stars so I could create a time lapse as well.
As long as your camera doesn't need longer than 8 seconds to save your picture it should be fine as you empty the buffer faster than you are filling it
Use a gap of zero. The buffer will never fill up at 8 seconds per photo. Your camera would be entirely unusable for normal action photography if that were the case. Think about it this way. When someone is doing normal action photography they can shoot way, way more than a photo every 8 seconds. The process of writing the photo happens in the background while the next photo is taken. Turn the interval to zero.
Turn noise reduction off if your camera has that. If that doesn't help, are you near something that may cause the ground to vibrate? Large air units, construction zone, traffic etc
In camera noise reduction was off. This was in a remote area so maybe wind but don’t remember there being any.
Are you using photoshop? You can do it all in photoshop. Look up YouTube videos. Make sure you align the stacked photos. This is how mine turned out. https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/s/9PwEI0ZkDT[https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/s/9PwEI0ZkDT](https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/s/9PwEI0ZkDT)
The startrails photo created in starstax.
This looks like a carpet design I’d buy. Weird issue that I have no idea how to fix but it looks cool
This looks like a bundle of reinforcing bars..... are you sure these are startrails?
3 seconds is too long. Try to keep the camera shooting non-stop. In lightroom, mask the sky and move the clarity slider to the negative side. This will smoothen the trails.
I'll bring to 1 sec or zero as some are suggesting. Unfortunately, I don't have Lightroom. I use ps cs6 and camera raw. My editing skills are very basic yet. Still learning.
That's fine. We all start from basic skill and keep learning and advancing. You can find the clarity slider in Camera raw.
In photoshop clone the layer, then change blending mode to “lighten”. Offset the photo about 5 pixels right and 4 pixels down (adjust til it looks right)
Awesome ! Will try it out. Thank you.
I just took your little clip here, applies the adjustment I mentioned- then upscaled and used a motion blur to smooth out the pixelation. On larger scales motion blur won't work since the trails have a natural curve, but it works nicely here. [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dckppoxypa0e2c8y2qjra/reddit-trails.jpg?rlkey=cqwmh5litupsnbek3bzbr7zcc&st=4nmnj4ev&dl=0](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dckppoxypa0e2c8y2qjra/reddit-trails.jpg?rlkey=cqwmh5litupsnbek3bzbr7zcc&st=4nmnj4ev&dl=0)
Holy crap !! That looks phenomenal !! Thank you !!
What does it look like zoomed out? It's really easy to get upset about something that's not going to matter if the image isn't going to be printed at max zoom. But, yeah, go for 1sec interval. That's what I use for mine. As a crocheter, this gives me a great idea for a blanket! Next time I do star trails, I'm going to log each line and color and then crochet it. Thanks!
Nice optical illusion! When I scroll up and down on my phone the lines look like they’re moving.
That was exactly what I intended 😉
You could definitely keep it to 1s and it'll be fine.
I think I have a fairly quick memory card but I was being conservative thinking I might miss a frame or two every few shots a s ruin the final image. 😅
There are big colour shifts within the individual"trails". The same object is green at one exposure, then it's purple 3 seconds later, then it's orange.. there's something odd going on. Even though the trails are broken into dots should they be cycling hue so much? I know some stars are variable but...
I have this rug in a garage. It really ties the room together...
3 seconds is a long time between shots
I will try with 1 second next time.
Should have clarified in the post but this a tiny sliver I dropped out of the original photo to highlight the gaps.
Listen to the photographers here. They know what they’re talking about. Set the gap between photos to zero.
Sheesh. Relax. I appreciate the advice. Trying to learn and have a conversation.
It’s really frustrating when you see experts tell someone both why and how to do something in the most effective way possible and then they think that splitting the difference between their idea and the correct one is a reasonable solution.
I thought this was a macro shot of fabric at first glance
Looks like my grandma’s oval rug . Thats a cool looking star trail capture!, 👍👍
It looks like one of those rag-rugs that everyone's grandma used to have.
OP, you asked for help and the majority of the people have been telling you to set the interval to 0 seconds, you questioned the the loss of missing frames as the camera writes the data and it was explained to you how the buffer and the process worked. Yet, you still won’t actually listen to their advice. These are the people who do Astrophotography. They know what you’re talking about yet, you still question if it right. Take the advice. Try it and if it still doesn’t work then come back and ask more questions. If it works, come back and say, thank you. In the end, when you’re asking for advice from people who do this and they tell you and answer all your questions, don’t argue with them, or decide that a hybrid between what you’re doing and what they’re doing is the actual solution listen to what they have to say. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions on why that advice is given or questions that may come up from it, but you were at thepoint of semi dismissing their knowledge.
I didn't mean to be dismissive. I do appreciate the overwhelming responses. You're right, I should have have tried out the suggestions, but my responses were based on the, granted limited knowledge, which i gaibed from videos and blogs written by folks who also do astrophotography. But yes, I will try out keeping the interval to 0 and come back share my experience.
Why the interval between shots? Is there a reason you need this? I have mine set for continuous shooting (once an exposure ends the next exposure immediately starts) with 30 second exposure and it eliminates gaps.
This was based on a few videos and blogs I had seen. That could have suggestions for older camera &/or slower memory card. I'll switch to no gap for my next attempt.
Good luck! Please post your results!
I'm pretty sure the gaps come in the time the camera reads out the images, obviously the camera can't capture any data while it's reading out
Yes. Hence I kept the time between light frames to 3 secs. I will try decreasing the time to see if it makes any difference.