This Old House under a Clear Cold Sky

[HFMarshburnJR]

My friend Darrell lives on a piece of family property in Washington County. This is the original house built by his great grandfather around 1900. Darrell's current house is within about 100 feet of this location. We had an essentially moonless night that was blown clear by a vigorous cold front that blew through yesterday. The stars were outstanding, and I culdn't resist the opportunity to take some star trail shots.

The technical details:

Shot with a Nikon D3 w/ a 14mm F2.8 lens stopped own to F5.6. ISO 200
Stack of (56) - 3 minute exposures (effective exposure just short of 3 hours between 1:45AM and 4:30AM). Shot in RAW - Images processed in ACR - Stacked using Image Stacker.

I hope you enjoy. Polite C&C always welcomed.

HFM

[Nahtjay]

that is amazing. i love the stars. great shot man

[dfischer]

Great Job as usual. Well worth braving the cold and wind.

I am going to do a little research to try to figure out when the house was built. I know that my great-great grandfather lived in the house, he was born (possibly in this house) in 1862. My grandfather and all of his siblings were born in the house the oldest of which was born in 1895.

[kneemeaux]

Howard that is one fantastic shot. The history makes it all the better.

[HFMarshburnJR]

Thanks guys. I am glad that we were able to get this one. This is actually the second set of images that I ook last night. I had to re-rack after I completed the first set when I realized that I had forgotten to set the camera to manual focus. I am going to have to go back and see what a six hour exposure ends up looking like one of these days. I appreciate the kind words.

HFM

[Patti Edens]

Howard, What a wonderful photo!!! I really love this shot. The composition is just incredible. The tree and the lighting on the cabin give it a eerie mood. The distortion in the cabin makes me think of those weird fun houses where marbles roll uphill.

I haven't made another attempt at this yet, but I will one of these days.

[dfischer]

I couldn't wait to show Mom and Dad. They loved it! They said to tell you so and to thank you for sharing it.

[iCe]

Wow. The shot is amazing but the dedication it took to get the shoot eclipses that (pun intended). Well done!

[ifly223]

One of the best star trail pics i've seen. : )

[L Stegall]

Really impressive star trails. Did you "paint" the house with a flashlight? I'm looking forward to trying this in British Columbia in May - should have some nice dark nights to play with. So, basically, sounds like I need to pack my long underwear and gloves and be ready to pull an all-nighter, from your description of the time you spent.

[HFMarshburnJR]

Originally Posted by Patti Edens

Howard, What a wonderful photo!!! I really love this shot. The composition is just incredible. The tree and the lighting on the cabin give it a eerie mood. The distortion in the cabin makes me think of those weird fun houses where marbles roll uphill.

I haven't made another attempt at this yet, but I will one of these days.

Thanks Patti. I wish we had the sky I had this weekend when we got our group together. I can take credit for the composition, but I have to admit that the lighting effect was serendipitous...As I mentioned above, the house that Darrell currently lives in is approx. 100 feet to the right of the camera. The master suite (where he and his wife were sleeping) and the guest quarters (where my sweetie and I were sleeping) faced this scene. The light on the house resulted from the light shining out of those rooms for a period of about 10 minutes at the start of the sequence. In real time, it was a very faint glow...I had a feeling it would turn out special. Thanks for the notice.

HFMarshburnJR added 1 Minutes and 40 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by dfischer

I couldn't wait to show Mom and Dad. They loved it! They said to tell you so and to thank you for sharing it.

I am glad they liked it. I can't wait to try this with the tractors in the pasture. I also have some ideas for the barn. Will talk to you later.

HFMarshburnJR added 7 Minutes and 38 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by iCe

Wow. The shot is amazing but the dedication it took to get the shoot eclipses that (pun intended). Well done!

Michael -

I have to confess...I did not stay outside the whole time ... My momma didn't raise no fool!!! I have a very sturdy tripod that I set up wit a low center of gravity so as to not be bothered by the wind. I attached my intervalometer, and after determining what my shutter time would be, I dialed in the number of exposures I wanted and went in to the nice warm house. I realized near the end of the first set that I had made a stupid mistake, and after reviewing the shots I confirmed it. It was nothing to reset the shot and then go to bed...especially after Darrell volunteered to bring the tripod in when it finished it's run at 5AM.

Thanks for the kind words.

HFMarshburnJR added 9 Minutes and 3 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by ifly223

One of the best star trail pics i've seen. : )

James - That is high praise indeed!!! Thank you for the notice.

HFMarshburnJR added 13 Minutes and 5 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by L Stegall

Really impressive star trails. Did you "paint" the house with a flashlight? I'm looking forward to trying this in British Columbia in May - should have some nice dark nights to play with. So, basically, sounds like I need to pack my long underwear and gloves and be ready to pull an all-nighter, from your description of the time you spent.

Lisa -

Thanks for the notice. I described where the light came from above, and it is a form of light painting. I envy your trip to BC. Something to think about is that you will probably only have a couple of hours of really dark skies at that time of year that far north. And the darnedest thing is...they will come in the middle of the night!!! Losing sleep is an occupational hazard with this kind of photography. Good luck.