Not only are cameras devices that measure and capture light, but they also capture time. In what’s known as long exposure photography the camera bends longer periods of time into single images. Astrophotography is already a form of long exposure photography, but the concept is taken even further in a star trails image that, as the name suggests, shows the trailing movement of the stars throughout the night.

A star trails image starts with a base image. I set the camera to take this shot over and over until stopped. This sequence is called a timelapse, and it’s recommended to let the timelapse run for 1-3 hours. I let this one run for 2 hours.

Over the course of the timelapse the camera will capture everything that happens in the night sky during that length of time. Along with the hundreds of shots of the circular movement of the stars I was lucky enough to get this single image of a shooting star.

Once I have all the shots from the timelapse I’m able to stack them together on my computer to show the looping movement of the stars over time in a single image. This process gives me a lot at the end, from the finished product to the good single shots in between. I’m a fan of how this image shows the vibrant colors from all the different brightness stars. It’s truly wondrous seeing our universe at work.

Stay safe, bye for now.

Camera settings: Canon EOS R | 14mm | f2.8 | 25 sec | ISO 3200