Star trails - Currumbin next Thursday night

[Simon Leonard]

http://www.gcps.org.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=196

Not sure if its the perfect location or not... but I'm willing to give it a go...

This will be the Currumbin Rocks - NOT the Elephant Rock where the club did the dawn shoot not long ago...

Maybe start at 7PM? We should get two or three hours of shooting in and still be reasonable for those of us who work M-F.

Anyone interested?

[DavidM]

Could get a lot of light pollution from the surrounding area.

[Simon Leonard]

Yeah I wondered that - but I want to try it out first so that one day I'll get a chance in the real outback or without competing lights and I'll hopefully have some idea of what I am doing.
Plus by using this stacking method you can get around some of the stray light apparently... I noticed some of his photos are under bridges and things which would have to have a LOT of stray light I'd say?

S

[Andrew]

I should be able to make it for this..

[Simon Leonard]

One of my colleagues not from the club is SO excited he snuck out last night for some test pics...
check out: http://terencekearns.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Night-Shots/13170737_bwAjZ#955661582_XbWiL
He suggested if you can get out there at 6pm for setup it was dark enough by 6:30pm. Not sure if I can get there that early though so save me a piece of rock. Bring your beenie, and winter woolies, as well as a seat to sit on.

Details on the camera settings:

focal length: 16mm x 1.6 (crop sensor)
Aperture: f/2.8
electronic gain: ISO 200
shutter speed: 30 seconds
exposure mode: manual
white balance: daylight
camera model: EOS 500D
drive mode: continuous
release mechanism: cable remote with locking facility.
frame count: 115
first frame: 6:41pm
last frame: 7:42pm
power source: dual battery (battery grip)
file format: Large/Fine JPEG (8bit) (15MP)
storage used: 300MB

Stacked using Adobe Photoshop with the following Action file
http://www.schursastrophotography.com/s ... rails.html

[Simon Leonard]

Weather forecast:

Gold Coast/Tweed Heads
Forecast for Thursday
Mostly fine. Becoming cloudy during the afternoon and evening with possible
showers. Light to moderate N/NW winds.

We'll just have to keep a close eye on the weather...
Don't forget to charge your battery and clear your cards!
Bring a chair and lots of warm clothing...

S

[michael]

Weather looking very cloudy. Is this still on Simon?

[Andrew]

Weather looking very cloudy. Is this still on Simon?

I'd say not mate..

[c.knight]

Down there now, looks rubbish

[Simon Leonard]

Came, saw, didn't conquer, but was a good learning opportunity.

I haven't had the opportunity to download yet, but in-camera some of the shots look great!

I had trouble with my remote release cable - it didn't work at all, but I tried a couple of 5min exposures anyway, using the finger on the shutter release which worked on the back-screen, but was just too painful to try too often...
I also grabbed a series of 30-second exposures to have a go at stacking later.

Overall I think it was great. Got to know some great shooters, and one has a degree of interest in the club and is likely to check it out.
Photos to come...