Reach for the Stars

January8, 2016 Explore Park

What in the world  sky is this?
It's called STAR TRAILS. It is on every new/seasoned photographer's bucket list. The star trails are one of the things that we can "see" with a camera that we can't see with our eyes.
This particular photo was captured Thursday evening at EXPLORE PARK .
The center of this circular motion is THE NORTH STAR (also known as Polaris). This type of photo has to be taken at night, actually on a fairly clear night.My camera does the work, but you have to know what settings to use, have a sturdy tripod, some time on your hands, and a blanket for stargazing.  (Be sure to check the temperature before you venture out, and dress appropriately.)  When you return home to your computer, you combine all of the photos into one image, using a star stacking program.
HAHAHAHA  (If all of this had been a cake walk, I would have done this long, long, long ago :) ). 

"A STAR TRIAL IS A TYPE OF PHOTOGRAPH THAT UTILIZES LONG-EXPOSURE TIMES TO CAPTURE THE APPARENT MOTION OF STARS IN THE NIGHT SKY DUE TO THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH."  

Three years ago, I had never heard of a star trail. In fact, I had never heard of long exposure, stacking, ISO, aperature, jpeg, raw files, continuous shooting, equivalent exposure...  I thought you purchased a camera, and took photos! Learning photography with a DSLR camera, (digital single-lens reflex)can be compared to learning another language!
AND....WHY WOULD ANYONE GO OUT AND SHOOT PHOTOS AT NIGHT?

ANYWAY, BACK TO THE STAR TRAILS:
This week has been amazingASTRONOMICAL.
We've had successes in our back yard (King Ron and me):

Photo taken from the front deck

Photo taken in the back yard

AND we've had failures, due to not checking for clear skies at our destination, not to mention the wind factor that moved the tripod:

My creative intent was great, but it was cloudy!

Did  I mention that it was a wee bit chilly on this particular photo fail?  We are still trying to figure out the wind chill for this night. And were we delighted to get back home! It seemed like 'everywhichway' we turned, it was still 16 degrees.

Call us craaaaaazy, but this has been a fun, adventurous week. We are ready to venture out to other places, when the sky is clear!
HAPPY STAR TRAILS TO YOU!