Startrail in Scorrier Woods - a photo on Flickriver

            "Why haven't you done any star trails recently?" I was asked by a colleague on Monday.  "It's clear and still tonight.  Perfect conditions for one," piped up a second voice.  I like star trails.  They're quite fun to do and seeing the trail build during the stacking process is always rather satisfying.  But I don't do them often.  They involve standing about in the dark and the freezing cold, hoping it doesn't suddenly cloud over and that the lens doesn't get clobbered by condensation.  And more than once I've forgotten to reset the camera from jpeg to raw afterwards, which is always really irritating when I discover my oversight.  Once or two a year is generally enough.  

And so I went to the woods, just a few minutes' walk from home.  These woods are riddled with old mineshafts, including a few unseen ones.  In fact during the last couple of years, 400 foot deep holes have appeared overnight next to the nearby A30, the main road through Cornwall, and a neighbour's back garden.  So it's always with some trepidation that I venture out in the dark around here.

After blundering around by torchlight, and getting rapidly cold I settled on a composition.  I could see Cassiopeia, and based on that I had a rough idea where the pole star was.  In fact I got lucky as it happened to be dead centre of the viewfinder, a fact I didn't discover until the stacking process later on.  Meanwhile, 20 yards to the right of me, several pairs of red eyes appeared in the darkness watching me with interest, courtesy of a herd of grazing cows in the neighbouring field. 

A couple of test shots were soon followed by a mentally weary "that'll do," and so I started the process.  153 images, each of them on f4, 25 seconds and ISO 800.  The full moon either was or wasn't helping, depending upon your point of view.  Same thing in the case of the dog walker who marched through the scene 10 minutes in, waving his torch around in windmill like fashion.  Silently cursing him I later decided that he'd done me a favour by temporarily illuminating the scene.  Standing silently in the dark I couldn't decide whether to announce my presence.  I decided not to.  

After 65 minutes of standing around stamping my feet in the cold I went home and used the wonderful startrails.de app to se what I'd got.  I shared the result on the Facebook Practical Photography group page, to a pleasing reception and the suggestion by one member of a square crop and a frame.  I think he was right you know.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Scorrier (show map)

Taken on: November 21, 2018

Tags:

starry nights

stars

trail

trees

tree

treescape

Night

night sky

Scorrier

woods

winter

long exposure

Canon EOS 70d

Canon

evening « less

Sets appears in: • Trees • Starry nights

Groups appears in: • Amateurs • Night Shot more » • Flickr Social Club • Amateur Photographer Magazine • Flickr Social • Flickr Photo Unlimited (No People) • ASTRO BRITAIN « less

Stats: 2,391 views / 5 comments

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