During one of the 200 shots, a calculation of the trees was dodged with a bright flashlight in order to be able to recognize them later in the finished picture. The tree now points to the North Star, which surrounds itself completely unimpressed with a star wreath.
And then the clouds came from the sea - despite a recording altitude of 1,600 meters above sea level, this series of recordings was a race against time. But surprisingly, the clouds behind the trees waited until the last picture was in the box and now convey a special look in this black and white composition of the finished star trail picture
We had rented a nice little house at over 1,600 meters above sea level, which offered ideal conditions for star trail photography. Light pollution is generally low on La Palma and was particularly low here, in the vineyards and above the clouds. In some nights, the sea of clouds over the coastal regions even shielded the light of the towns and settlements there.
The interesting rock formations in the north of La Palma can also be used as objects for star trail photography. Here is an example on a - unfortunately - somewhat busy road, so that only about 100 of the 200 pictures were usable. But the picture basically shows the idea of the composition ... even if it is more suitable for documentation than for wall decoration. Or is it?
Opening a star trail tent over the palm trees of La Palma is not easy with wind and long exposure times. But it worked just fine with a single palm. Alternatively, a photo of the desired scenery could be taken with better lighting, which can be added to the star trail recording using the appropriate software. But it didn't happen here.
We were in a good position with our car in the wide lava deserts of Lanzarote with a good view to the north, where volcanoes lined up. The orange village lights even convey a volcanic pseudo effect on the horizon. Many of the 200 pictures were usable, so that beautiful star trails can now be seen over the volcanoes of Lanzarote.
It can get damp near streams and this can lead to fogged optics. Here the front lens fogged up and produced a fog effect - in other words - about 50 of the 200 pictures were unusable for this reason and on another thirty the position lights of the planes landing in Cologne drew their "airplane trails". But the rest of the pictures could still be used for this "hint of star trails" over the Hanfbach valley. Unfortunately, a higher ISO or longer exposure time could not be used due to the high level of lig
For several years we have been dealing with the recording of star trails or star tracks, i.e.