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Star Streak Tutorial
● Use a tripod. Of course, if you're serious about landscape photography, you already have one. Big
heavy stable ones are the best if you're looking at 6 hours of wind resistance.
● Use color negative film. Ektar 25 is the best (f/2.8 or f/4 is probably the right exposure). Fuji 100
would be my second choice (at f/5.6 or f/8). I used Afga Ultra 50 at f/4 but I don't really like this
film in general (explained in my more general film recommendations).
● A moon-free night is best. Failing that, point the camera in a part of the sky where the moon
won't be.
● Use a manual camera, e.g., Nikon FM, F3, (F4 can do it also, but I think the camera sucks). If
your only camera is a fancy battery-dependent marvel, make sure you have fresh batteries
available to make it close (and hope that it doesn't somehow close itself prematurely; if you aren't
using a Nikon 8008 or 6006, you might want to test first).
How to photograph the moon
If you can't find a moon-free night then maybe you should try to get a good photo of the moon itself...
Start with a tripod and a 200mm or longer lens. Your exposure should be f/11 and a shutter speed of 1/
film-speed (e.g., f/11 and 1/400th of a second if you are using ISO 400 film). The moon is illuminated
by the full light of the sun, attenuated to some extent by our atmosphere. You could say the same about
your friend's face on a sunny day, in which case you'd apply the "sunny 16 rule" and set f/16 and 1/filmspeed.
Why the discrepancy? The moon is made of darkish gray rock. But we see it at night when are
eyes are adjusted to the dark so it looks rather white. In order to have the moon appear white on film,
you need to overexpose it by 1 f-stop, i.e., use f/11 instead of f/16.
philg@mit.edu
Reader's Comments
Next time you're shooting star trails, try this: Make your long exposure at a small aperture, then open up
the aperture for another five minutes. You'll get a star at the end of the trail, and be able to make out
constellations. I like to hang my hat on the camera for a few minutes in between exposures to make a
slight gap
-- Roger Carlson, December 13, 1996
A point to remember and contemplate with star photography:
as stars are point sources, the numerical aperture of the lens is not the determining factor in the exposure
of stars.
http://www.photo.net/astro/star-streak (2 of 9)7/3/2005 2:15:29 AM