Photographing the stars above

Is it possible with a basic set up (Canon 550D 18-55 lens) to make a good star sky shot?
If so what setting should I try etc, how long do I leave the shutter open?

yes ................10 mins would be good

Not tried it for years but yes your camera and lens are fine for the night sky if your after a general starry sky image rather than a close up a constelation.

Somebody with more experience in star photography may know better but my starter for ten is:

Wait for a crisp clear dark sky - with stars obviously.
Use your tripod and put the camera onto manual including manual autofocus as AF can just be a pain.
Start off with ISO on 400 or so and use your lens as wide open as you can as you're looking to capture whatever light you can within a limited shutter speed.
Test a certain length exposure and see what you get - I think (don't quote me should be easy to find out) that 20 secs is about max before your stars become lines. If you're stars are lines then you need to reduce the shutter speed which will mean upping the ISO further as your lens is already at it's widest aperture.
Shoot Raw - it will give you more scope for adjusting later on.


Star trails - If you're after star trails (arcs or a circle of stars revolving around the North Star) - that's where somebody with more experience with this type of photography would need to keep you right regarding longer exposures and combining a series of images.

Let us know how you get on !

PS Have a look here.

Might take a min or two to load but it's a free 24 page pdf to night photography and includes some good stuff including (on page 18) details about the '500 rule' - telling you how long shutter speeds can be at different lens focal lengths if you want stars to still appear as 'dots' rather than 'lines'.

http://availablelightimages.com/blog...t-LightNEW.pdf

Doesn't look like a set time Cakey. Anywhere between 5 seconds and 3 hours.


Phil. Thanks a lot for that, what you have said and the link is great, cheers.
Love rule number

5 seconds in toxic Kent hahahahaha

A bit of cloud and to windy here tonight. Will try this as soon as conditions are right.

Crystal clear here LOL - just been out with dogs and there's a million stars out. Very cold though so I'm not playing.

hahaha... Typical, I want, I don't get. Go on, show us how it's done Phil. Put the thermals on lol

Where's Mark? He knows all about this sort of photography.

I'll have to try it when the clocks go back and it dark at work, away from any lights.