Static Motion

I learned something tonight. Not specifically about photography (of which I still consider myself very much a student) but about the movement of the stars.

So I'm taking a photograph after spotting the particularly pleasing gradient of the post-sunset glow on the horizon, and I realise that the stars had come out. I switched to portrait to get this shot but on a long exposure with a pretty light tripod, I couldn't get a clear shot without the stars becoming lines. Resigning myself to accepting the shots I had, I came back in and did a little research to discover that the movement I've captured isn't due to instability but it's actually just that the stars move that quickly. So the solution is actually to use a wider lens as the star's movement is less apparent in relation to the field of vision.

There you go. You learn something new every day. At least… I have. If I have another clear night tomorrow, I may try a comparison and use the lens I should have used ;)

Smile
Rob