Starry Night

[Randitola]

I finally got far enough away from the city to experiment with some star shots. Open to any tips/recommendations/critique on this type of shooting...and thanks in advance! :)
15521

[theantiquetiger]

I would try a horizon shot 70/30 sky/land, not just shoot straight up in the air

[AntZ]

I would try a horizon shot 70/30 sky/land, not just shoot straight up in the air
Unless its wide enough to catch the Milky Way.

Some of the stars are kind of blue. Not sure if that's something from post processing or some sort of lens aberration. The lighting on the trees are cool.

[daltech]

I agree, the focus seems off, or stars blurry.

You don't say much about your technique/setup, did you use a tripod, did you use a shutter release or at least the timer on your camera.

As for the camera setup, this is what I see:
Exposure Mode: Shutter Priority
Focal length: 30mm
Aperture: f/3.8 (I assume it was 3.5?)
Exposure: 30 seconds
ISO: 1600
Exposure compensation: +3

First, make sure your on a steady tripod, use a cable or remote release, or the timer on your camera.
I would use the camera on Manual mode, instead of S (Shutter Priority), also, make sure to use manual focus, try setting the focus just before infinity.

[Marko]

If this image was greater than 275 k - then the forum software compressed it and this would account for the soft stars.

I agree w/AT here, land in the foreground would make the image more interesting. Nice play though!

[GreenleafJason]

I too was experimenting with photographing stars and I read a tip to focus at infinity was to find a far off light and auto focus on that and then switch to manual focus to hold it. Some lenses can focus past infinity if you try to manually focus.