Circumpolar
This is a 3 hour and 13 minute long circumpolar star trail.
This is a 3 hour and 13 minute long circumpolar star trail.
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NIKON D5500
Aperture f/2 ISO 3200 Shutter 30/1 Focal Length 220/10 
Whangarei Heads, Auckland, NZ
Dec, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on Ocean Beach in Whangarei Heads in New Zealand. I was staying at a bach (holiday home) by myself for a week and had just begun getting into astrophotography so this was a perfect place to stay as it was away from all light pollution.Time
This photo can't be pinpointed to one particular time as it consists of hundreds of photos taken one after the other over the course of 3 hours and 13 minutes. I began taking the shots at 8.34pm on Sunday 8 April 2018 and completed the shoot at 12.02am on Monday 9 April. I was one tired and cold photographer at the end of it all, but a happy one when I saw the results of my efforts the following day. This was my first star trail shot I had ever attempted, so even though in hindsight I'd do some things differently, I was proud of myself for pulling it off, and filled with excitement at the thought of getting to do the next one (I started planning for it the next day - it's safe to say I caught the star trail bug that night on Ocean Beach!).Lighting
With the open ocean behind me, and no light pollution anywhere in the surrounding area, the only light source in the shot was from the stars themselves. The mountains beneath the stars were too far away for my torch to reach so they remained dark.Equipment
The camera I used to capture this image was a Nikon 5500 with a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens, on a tripod with a lens hood to protect against condensation during the lengthy shooting period. I had originally planned to use a remote release to trigger the exposures but my equipment malfunctioned so I used the camera's inbuilt intervalometer. It worked so well that I have continued to use it in all star trail shots I have taken after this one. I also used the photo pills app to help me visualize the star trail in the sky - without it I would be pretty much just guessing where the center of the circular trails would be. I could have spent four hours in the cold clicking away only to discover the center was out of the frame, so it was really valuable to be able to use the augmented reality feature inside the app.Inspiration
I find star trails mesmerizing. They transform an ordinary location into something almost other worldly. They had captivated me ever since I saw one in a photography magazine in my late 20s but I'd never had the equipment or the knowledge, let alone confidence to attempt creating one of my own. Of all the types of star trails, circumpolar was my favorite. It looked like a giant hidden bullseye. I knew my first attempt would probably not hit the mark (pardon the pin), but I also know that not trying out of fear of failure and my usual incessant perfectionism, I would forever wonder if I could pull it off. So that time under the stars on Ocean Beach that night was a step of progress for me personally where I emerged with more than just a moderately successful image.Editing
I used Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop to merge all the images and edit the photo. I did not do a separate photo for the foreground so there was no blending of foreground and sky to have to do. Once the images were merged, I cropped the image slightly, used the tone curve to increase contrast, boosted the saturation, and used the spot healing tool to remove an aeroplane trail that traversed the sky during two of my exposures. While editing, I became aware of a sense that something was missing that prevented it from being a ‘wow’ image. I thought to myself that a tree in the foreground would have been ideal. But I am a purist, so I don't like to replace things or add things to the image that weren't in the scene at the time I shot it. So I left the photo as it was. It was a great moment of learning what works and what works even better so that next time, I can do things differently.In my camera bag
I have been slowly adding to my collection of photography gear over the years. My standard bag includes a Nikon D5500, Sigma 18-55mm f/1.8 lens with accompanying lens hood, Nikon 55-200mm lens, a 10 stop ND filter, a Variable ND filter, a 3 stop ND filter, a CP filter, a UV filter, an adapter ring so I can use those filters on both lenses, an L bracket, a remote release, a lens pen, a blower, several lens cloths, spare batteries, a spare memory card, gaffa tape, scissors, and of course my tripod (which is waterproof as I do a lot of coastal photography). But if I'm heading out to do some astrophotography, I remove from the bag the case containing the filters, and add a head torch, my home-made lens muff with a packet of Hot Hands to go inside the muff (to prevent condensation forming on the front of my lens and cutting star trail shots short), a laser to reach further than my torch light will go to help me achieve manual focus at infinity, and the Photopills app to help me know where to point my camera.Feedback
Choose your composition carefully when doing a circumpolar star trail. Scout out possible places beforehand, during daylight hours, and find an interesting object in the foreground to help balance the sky-heavy trails. Make sure you input the correct settings when using your camera’s intervalometer. I wanted 30 second exposures with a 3 second interval between them. So I set my camera’s shutter speed to 30 seconds and then put 3 seconds in the ‘interval’ setting in my camera’s intervalometer. But this was incorrect. I needed to set my camera’s shutter speed at 30 seconds, and set the interval on the intervalometer at 33 seconds. I wasn’t aware when I first started, that Nikon’s 30 second exposure is actually 32 seconds. So technically, if you want a 3 second interval between each photo, you’d need to set your interval at 35 seconds on a Nikon intervalometer. Lastly, bring plenty of warm clothing - even in summer. When you’re out there for hours (particularly when doing a star trail as the sky is completely clear and without cloud cover the earth’s heat has long disappeared by the time you can start taking photos), even what appears a warm wind to begin with will soon feel cold. I bring fingerless gloves (so you can still touch your camera’s buttons in a hurry if needed), an extra pair of socks, and usually wrap a scarf around my face to cover my nose and cheeks as exposure to that cool air can feel pretty intolerable after 4 hours!
