I wasn't sure this was going to work but I think it came out better than expected. I don't know what I did wrong to get little small gaps in my star trails besides not using a remote shutter instead of my internal intervalometer. This was also my first time trying star trails with a telephoto. This was shot at 600mm in my backyard.
I kept the camera in the same place and waited for the moon to move out of frame then started my trail shots. I only did about 30mins for the trails. Then blended back in the moon into the trail shot. Might have to try this again sometime.
Interesting!
Was the moon exposure also with 600mm?
Yes, everything was shot at 600mm.
Kylie, I hear you on the 4:00 AM stuff depending on the season it can be the time I rise or oh!, crap I didn’t mean to sleep in. These events are soooo… long from beginning to end. The last total lunar eclipse was a few years ago while I was in Death Valley. After the eclipse had ended a couple of hours later I woke up about that magical 4:00 AM hour and I was amazed at what I saw. Some fairly low and scattered cloud had moved in the moon bright hung in the sky over the Mesquite Dunes. Full moons in Death Valley are something to experience if you haven’t. They are so bright you can read by the moonlight and see colors quite clearly. On this particular post eclipse full moon I noticed the sky was blue from the horizon up to about 35-40˚ above that midnight black speckled by stars. The dunes were bright lite both by the moon and the light they reflected lighting the low hung clouds that reflected back down to the dunes. It was beautiful but my brain wasn’t a thought about getting the tripod, but didn’t just down right pure 4 AM laziness, been kickin’ myself ever since. DUH!
When using the cameras intervalometer it is extremely important to keep the time between shots to a minimum...less than one second of possible. At 15mm the gaps won't be as noticeable as with choosing say, perhaps, 600mm.
Our sky was 100% cloud cover for low clouds. Medium and high clouds as well.
Great job experimenting!
EDIT:
Here is a couple websites to check out for Star Trails:
https://promediagear.com/blogs/guides/star-trail-photography-guide-for-b...
https://www.lonelyspeck.com/star-trails-and-moonlit-landscapes-tutorial/
Great idea, Kyle. I enjoyed reading through your experiment. I like it a lot!
Thank you!
Wonderful shot Kyle, the moon is so sharp. It makes me want to invest heavily into suitable equipment....... and an alarm clock!
Thanks! The Sigma 150-600 is a pretty damn good lens for the price. I’ve seen them used for under $700. I debated getting it when I did but it’s surprising how useful it has been. If you’re interested in a lens like that I highly recommend it.