#Free star stacking software series

At three of the locations I started off by taking some wider still photographs to test the capabilities of my 14-140mm Lumix zoom lens.

I took the star timelapses at fiveВ locations over fourВ nights.

#Free star stacking software series

This, combined with the 20mm lens not having a hard infinity stop and using it wide open at f1.7 with shallow depth of field, meant that I had to take several test exposures before starting each series of stacking shots вЂ“ partly to check exposure and composition, but also to check focus. The Lumix G6 is also not veryВ easy to manually focus on stars at infinity at night-time вЂ“ the focus peaking helps a little but the magnified focus-aids вЂgain-upвЂ™ too much in low light to be of much use. Stacked star trails showing the Big Dipper looking North вЂ“ total exposure time 50 minutes So that meant trying to get the best out of my Panasonic Lumix G6 (not renowned for its low light performance but moreВ impressive than I expected during my lightpainting session) in an urban location вЂ“ Southsea (part of Portsmouth, on the south coast of England). I neededВ to use the equipment I had to hand, in locations that I could access, and at times that would fit around my busyВ family life.

Making best use of what you haveДЄs much as I might dream of using a low-light championВ such as the Sony a7s in an isolated вЂњdark skyвЂќ location for my star timelapses, I knew I had to face reality. A sequence of amazingly clear starry nights during January presented me with an ideal opportunity to try my hand at capturing star timelapses and star trails. Inspired by the phrase вЂњHeavenвЂ™s light our guideвЂќ вЂ“ the motto on the coat of arms forВ the city of Portsmouth вЂ“ I have spent the last month getting to grips with the basics urban long exposure night sky photography. Stacked star trails over Southsea Bandstand, centred on Polaris (the North Star) вЂ“ total exposure time 14 minutes