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THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOS

Star trail photos track the apparent movement of the stars across the night sky. The stars take on a circular (or semi-circular) pattern as they appear to rotate around the North Star. Of course, it is the Earth that rotates, not the stars, but from our vantage point the opposite seems true.

These photos are made by locking down the camera (it can't be moved for any reason until the process is over) and taking a continuous series of photos over several hours. The individual images are then combined in the computer to create one final photo.

Of course it can get pretty boring sitting around for all that time. But if I am lucky, I can usually find fellow photographers who also want to shoot star trails and we have a good old time together. I also typically bring two or three cameras so I am able to photograph other things while I am waiting.

For me, what I love about star trail photos is they create a sense of moving through time and space in a really cool way which I find so appealing. What do you think?