Zoom in

Star trails of a different sort.

Very arty. I like that you've taken a couple of different techniques and created something new.
It's the perfect cover shot for a Mayan 2012 calendar.

Here is the before and after Photoshop trickery.

It sure brings out the CA.

Tried something slightly different with this one.

I like the first one better; but looks like you're having fun

Snydremark wrote in post #13763307
I like the first one better; but looks like you're having fun

Hmm, Really, I thought the first one looks too busy.

Thanks for the feedback though, I do appreciate it.

The only reason I did these is because I was told this effect would be hard to duplicate with Photoshop. It's actually quite easy.

tkerr wrote in post #13763342
Hmm, Really, I thought the first one looks too busy.

Thanks for the feedback though, I do appreciate it.

The only reason I did these is because I was told this effect would be hard to duplicate with Photoshop. It's actually quite easy.

Reminds me of launching into light speed on Star Wars or Star Trek too I guess.

Excuse me, but, could you explain how you achieve that result?

Thanks

Estorki wrote in post #13782358
Excuse me, but, could you explain how you achieve that result?

Thanks

If you want to do it for real you use a zoom lens and zoom in during the exposure.

For these pictures however I used Photoshop CS5.

1.) Open the image make any edits or correction you might usually make to an image. I.e. Sharpen, or NR. Especially, NR. too much noise will only increase as you go when doing this.

2.) Duplicate the Layer.

3.) On the Duplicated Layer, Mask anything in the forground to black so that it won't blur when you create the zoom effect. (this is optional. if you're trying to make it look like you actually dragged the zoom, the foreground would also be blurred/streaked).

4.) Change Layer Blending Mode to "Lighten"
Use the Free Transform in step and repeat mode. Keyboard short cut for that is Ctrl - Alt -T, or (Cmd -Opt -T on a Mac)

5.) Grab on of the corners with your mouse while holding down the Shift and Alt(opt) Keys. (That will keep the adjustment constrained to the center of the image). Move the transform box inward a few pixels. Press the enter key, or click the check mark when done with the transform

6.) Here you can click on the layer thumbnail while holding the Ctrl(Cmd) Key to prevent this next step from making multiple duplicate layers.

7.) While holding down the Shift - Ctrl - Alt keys, press T. Each press of the T while holding the Shift - Ctrl - Alt key will repeat your transform moving it in progressively.

8.) This step isn't necessary, but it might help.
Create another Duplicate of the Original Background Layer and move it to the top of the order. Change the blending mode to "Soft Color" and then adjust the layer opacity until the streaks show through how you like.

tkerr wrote in post #13782697
If you want to do it for real you use a zoom lens and zoom in during the exposure.

...

At first, I thought that's what you were doing until I noticed that the tree didn't have the trails.

archer1960 wrote in post #13783541
At first, I thought that's what you were doing until I noticed that the tree didn't have the trails.

So far it looks like the skies will be clear for a while tonight. If it stays this way I am going to try it for real. Even with a nice tripod the challenge is going to be zooming in without shaking the camera too much.

I followed your steps Tim, well more or less, but got some fun pictures anyway!

Greg

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

NovaTJ wrote in post #13790012
I followed your steps Tim, well more or less, but got some fun pictures anyway!

Greg

I didn't get it the first time. Took a few times until I got the trails to look good enough.

It's best to start with a full size, Large Raw image file, and then all it takes is a two or three pixel move. I magnify the image to 200% so I can see the pixels as I make the adjustment. Even at that large you might see a little separation in the stars, but not much. Once you reduce the image size it won't be as noticeable. However, if you want you can use a 2 or 3 pixel Zoom Radial Blur to blur the dots together.

Another thing you can do to give it a little more of a warped look is to use the Pucker Liquify Filter.