Star Trails 9

Jim | jld3 photography has added a photo to the pool:

I can’t believe it’s been close to 3 years since my last startrails shot. I’ve been meaning to do another for so long I almost lost interest. But when I set out for west Texas the other day one of my main objectives was to take advantage of the low light pollution and take another stab at it. (Turns out, there can actually be too many stars when it comes to making one of these composites!)

I’m not sure if I’ve “matured” as a photographer or just changed interests, but this will most likely be my last one. Since these are comprised of multiple photos I find them a little gimmicky now. In fact the similar single-exposure shot I took of all the stars is much more appealing to me. (I’ll likely share that one soon.)

Like Star Trails 8 [in comments below], I composed this shot with the North Star center-frame so that I’d have a center balanced rotation. Fortunately I was able to do this and still have the McDonald Observatory centered in the frame as well. Given that there were no lights up there, the observatory would’ve been a mere silhouette on the horizon had it not been for the lightning occurring directly behind me.

Approximately (40) 30sec. exposures at 1 sec. intervals, stacked to make the equivalent of a 20 minute exposure.