Lockdown StarTrails/Timelapse

Hi all... thought I'd post these... I've dabbled in photographing the night sky a fair bit over the last few years, usually using the K1/K1ii astrotracer to keep the stars as steady as possible. I thought I'd take advantage of the clear skies that we've enjoyed through much of Lockdown, and particularly the moon-free evenings of a couple of weeks back to go the other way, and do some long-form star trails.

The shot below was taken using the K1ii and the F17-28 from our back garden. Interval timer, ISO 800, 30 secs exposure, f 5.6, 1 sec between shots. Set it off at the end of blue hour (9.30pmish), and just let it go till the battery ran out. Ended up with 280ish shots, across 2 1/2 hours. Blended them in Starstax. Here's the result:




I also thought I'd try out the "StarStream" feature on the K1ii. Not something I've ever used before, but it's been on a number of recent Pentax cameras, so thought I'd give it a whirl. Basically it takes a bucketload of stills, blends them into one seamless HD stream, and outputs it as a movie. Not dissimilar to a timelapse, but done in the camera in real time. I've added some titles and a soundtrack, so if you're interested, do click on

Lockdown StarStream

to a link to the page on my website to have a look. Just click on the picture at the bottom, and it'll play the movie (it's under a minute)...

Thanks for looking. All thoughts, comments, suggestions very welcome as ever...

Best

I can't comment on any of the tech settings, as I know nothing about astrophotography, but the image is fascinating. What I do notice is the colour differences in the various star tracks. I do like the overall picture!

Weird, but I like weird.....

Superbly well done

Did you lay the K1 on its back or was it tripod mounted ?

Thanks all for thoughts and comments re these...

Martin, am not an astro expert, but assume the difference in colour of the trails has something to do with a) proximity b) brightness... the further away/less bright, the fainter, and the less pure white... there's some difference as well in the blue/magenta component of various bits of the sky, which will be to do with ambient light from elsewhere I'd imagine (we live not far from the city centre)...

Chris, thanks for this... yes, used a tripod... pointing vertical... as close to the ground as I could get it... I have a Benro travel tripod and Vanguard head, which are pretty solid...

Best