Second (improved?) attempt at star trails...

So after my first try, ( https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=905732 ) I decided to go out with a friend and try some more shots. The conditions were about as bad as they could be (almost full moon high in the sky), but it was a warm night, and I'm up for experimenting, even if the outcome is garbage...

This time I included a reference point (shooting UP a rock wall)...and, again, by complete fluke I managed to capture the North Star...The bright outline of the rock is caused by the Moon...I kind of like it...

EXIF: 30D with Tokina 11-16 f2.8 at 11mm. 100 ISO, 80 min exposure, f13.

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The rock face makes it look like the ground is on the left. I'd say this is an improvement from your first posts as the rocks give a good reference, but I feel like you need some ground in there so the shot isn't disorienting.

the moon will start to rise a bit later every night for the next week. Give plenty of time for practice. Try different ISO settings

I prefer your first image. By dropping the ISO and closing the aperture you're preventing the light from dimmer stars getting onto the sensor, so the trails are a bit lacking.

If noise is a problem, why not try the stacking method? Set it to ISO 800, open the aperture all the way and then close it down two or three stops, then shoot about 100 exposures at 30s each. (Put the camera on burst mode, turn off any noise-reduction and mirror-lockup, and lock your remote shutter open.) Then stack the result in the software from www.startrails.de.

I personally think this method is better for several reasons;

1) Noise is reduced as you don't have to expose for ages on a single shot.
2) When taking one exposure, if something goes wrong that's the whole process ruined, but when taking lots of exposures, chances are only one shot will be ruined.
3) If you fancy it, or if there's some cloud movement, you can make the exposures into a timelapse as well/instead.

wizcreations: thanks...I'm going to do a "normal" shot too, with the reference point along the bottom, but this time I had no choice...there was so much light pollution all around the horizon that doing something a little different (shooting up) was my only choice.

jsigone: I'm not sure how different ISO settings would help me...I like the single shot method, and for that ISO 100 seems to be the best bet.

Adrena1in: I didn't drop my ISO, it was 100 for both shots. I know that I blocked out some of the dimmer stars by closing the aperture, however, as I've said, it was an absolute garbage night as the moon was about as bright as it gets, and we were right by the ocean, which reflected a lot of the light. On my next shot I'll try and avoid the moon and open the aperture back up...probably do an ISO 100 / 90 minute / f8 shot...

As for stacking...I've seen the results from that, and they're impressive. However, at 30 seconds each, to get the kind of length I'm getting out of my trails, I'd need to stack nearly 200 images. And I know what I'm going to say next is going to sound dumb, but that's a lot of wear and tear on the shutter for one image...plus, I really like the idea of taking ONE shot and experimenting with that. Now that I'm starting to get the settings down I'm going to try to do some trails with my film AE-1 Program...that should take care of my noise problem

LowriderS10 wrote in post #10612400
...I know what I'm going to say next is going to sound dumb, but that's a lot of wear and tear on the shutter for one image...

No no, you're absolutely right...it's the one down side of multiple shots and stacking.

Adrena1in wrote in post #10616640
No no, you're absolutely right...it's the one down side of multiple shots and stacking.

It's too bad...if it wasn't for that, I'd probably do a lot more stacking...but I just can't really justify it haha...one day I'll get over it Maybe get a cheap Rebel XT or something and monkey with that