Time Lapse Star Trails

[mikepalo]

<p>Ok so I dont know if this constitutes a beginner question but I didnt know wehre else to put it so here it is. This coming december I am going to be heading out into the everglades to go camping and watch the geminid meteor shower. I am bringing with me 2 bodies, a digital D200 along with a 35mm 1.8 in order to attempt and shoot the meteors, but also a film body with a 35mm f/2 lens to try and create a super long exposure and get all the star trails. My question is, what settings/film are used for LONG(such as 8hrs) exposures on a film body? I want to get something like this. Ignore the color I know that treated, I'm just talking the circular star trails. Thanks for any help in advance. Oh and PS where I'm headed is supposed to be the darkest sky in Florida way out in the SW glades, so city light pollution shouldn't be a problem.<br>

<img src="http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq208/mpalozzola/Untitled-1.jpg" alt="" width="541" height="700" /></p>

[dan_south]

f/4 should work well with ISO 100 film. F/5.6 will work, too, but the trails tend to look a little thinner.

 

If you want the swirling look in the sample photo, you need to include the North Star. That will be the center of the circle. However, This

star might not be visible all night long as far south as Florida. This effect works better at more northern latitudes. But star trails are

possible under any clear night sky.

[JDMvW]

<p>Also be aware that, even without city lights, you will likely not have the dark sky that one gets in the high-altitude, arid SW. In much of the east and especially in the Everglades, the humidity is high and you are nearly at sea level in the atmospheric "well".</p>

[mikepalo]

<p>I know I'm not in ideal conditions for this type of shot. I did just double check and the North Star is visible at my location. It's close to the horizon but, not TOO close it'll depend on the night specifically I guess. The purpose of the night is the meteors. The time lapse is something I want to do for a compilation. Hopefully Id like to combined the meteors in post with the star trail time lapse, unfortunately I did just discover that the direction of the Geminids will not be good to compile "realistically" but I will do what I can. It should still be interesting.</p>