Elephant Rock star trails

[alexch]

Hi All,

Coming back from the U2 360 concert on Friday I noticed someting very unusual for Melbourne lately - stars and lots of them!

I packed my gear and set off to Flidners on Mornington Peninsula around 1am. I knew by the time I get there I would only get 2.5 hours of imaging, which is far too little for a time lapse, but who knows when the sky will be clear around the New Moon again. I also wanted to try my new motorised mount for a panning time-lapse.

As I figured out later in the morning the panning head did not turn in the final run, and as usual - it did work during the test run. I did not quite get the composition I wanted and the time lapse was ruined because of that, but I am still happy - I spent some time under the stars and the Magellanic Clouds were magnificent.

All I could do with the data was the star trails image below.

Nikon D700, 14-24m lens, f/2.8, ISO 3200, 196 images x 30 sec.

Cheers,
Alex

[gregbradley]

Fabulous!

It draws you into the centre, almost a bit 3D.

Greg.

[Octane]

Alex,

Super.

My one suggestion would be to remove the lone streak of the ship on the right.

H

[alexch]

Thanks, H!

I tried to remove it and thought it looked better with the streak. No idea why though.

[TrevorW]

Alex long time no see o to speak well done a very nice star trail image

[Paul Haese]

Very nice image.

[Screwdriverone]

Veeery nice Alex,

I agree with Greg, it certainly has a "Time Tunnel" feel to it....mesmerising!

When I saw your thread I immediately thought of a rock star, turns out its Elephant Rock. Star Trails.

Although, you WERE coming back from a U2 concert so there was some Rock Star reference after all.....

Keep em coming, they are extremely enjoyable to look at.

Cheers

Chris

[strongmanmike]

Pretty schmick Alex :thumbsup:

Not a critisism but I'm not quite sure if I like the warpped circles...:confuse3:Maybe proper circular ones would look better :question:...does add extra movement to the image I guess - Hmm? the Jury is out on this one, still a great view though mate, has that typically very grand look to it :thumbsup:

Mike

[Hagar]

Very nice Alex. Just what we have come to expect from you. Talk about dedicated heading off at 1:00am. I take my hat off to you.

[Phil Hart]

dedication indeed!

i've had a few times where my timelapse panning head doesn't move for one reason or another.. quite annoying!

Phil

[alexch]

Thanks, Greg :)

[alexch]

Thanks, Trevor.

There was nothing to show in all this cloudy weather!!!

[alexch]

Thanks, Paul and Chris.

Although not everything worked as expected I am quite pleased I managed to get out and some imaging.

[alexch]

Thanks, Mike.

If the panning head worked then it would not have been warped at some point, but then again there would be no star trails. I am glad I could do this after long abstinence...

[alexch]

Thanks mate. I can't take any chances with the weather lately -and I was shocked to see clear sky.

[alexch]

Yes, the more gadgets I have the more difficult it becomes... All good fun though.

[h0ughy]

not bad - just jealous that you have clear skies to see those things. nice framing and lucky to get a meteor by the look

[jase]

One man's disaster is another's glory Alex. Bummer about the panning head, but WOW what a spectacular result. Very nice.