Free Star Trails Post Processing Video Tutorial

So you're ready to capture and post process some star trail images? Let me show you just how easily this can be done! Using my free tutorials provided below I'll show you my favorite methods to capture and edit your star trail images in a simple yet powerful manner.

First I'll provide you with step by step instruction, next you can watch the free video tutorial to see these steps in action. Both are provided below the free eBook link below. If you haven't taken any star trails images yet you can learn how to do so using my Free Star Trails Shooting Tutorial

Download your Free 40 page Star Photography eBook & access the tutorials below the next photo. 

 Download Your Free 40 Page Star Photography eBook

Below I've provided a free 40 page, Night Sky Exploration & Adventure eBook Bundle, which will be sent directly to your email address as a PDF file. Included in the eBook is everything you will need to get started in Milky Way, Night Sky & Star Trail Photography + some great night sky hikes as well!

Included in the free eBook bundle are the following 5 eBooks

3 Tricks for Focusing at Night

5 Simple Steps to View & Photograph the Night Sky

Dave’s Top 10 Planning Tools for Photography & Hiking

Star / Night Photography Camera & Lens Recommendations

3 Great Hikes for Exploring the Night

CLICK HERE & Receive Your Free eBook Bundle

Star Trails Post Processing Tutorial

After getting back from taking some star trails pictures here is my preferred method of post processing them explained in a very brief manner. I've also provided a free video below to show you these steps in action. 

1. Load all your images into a RAW photo processor of your choice such as Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW.
2. Adjust a single exposure out of the series to get the white balance, darks, lights and all of the other settings to mimic what you would like to see in your final image. Now sync all of your other images from the shoot to exactly match this image. This is very easy using the "Sync" option in Lightroom. 
3. Export all of your files to JPEG, TIFF or whatever other format you like. Note: If you choose TIFF and plan to export a few hundred picture files you either need a really fast computer with lots of RAM or some magic. I would suggest JPEG in the case of star trail pictures.
4. Layer all of the files on top of each other in Photoshop. I like to use Adobe Bridge to do this using the "Load Files into Photoshop as Layers" function. 
5. Select all of the picture layers in Photoshop EXCEPT the bottom one and change the blend mode to lighten. 
6. Boom, that's it. You should now see a picture that mimics one long star trail for each star location.  I go on to do many different other adjustments to this image after completing the steps above, but that's for another tutorial:)

Free Video Tutorial

Dave's Top 14 for 2014

This year I'm going to mix things up a bit and give you all a list with more than just photos. Scroll down and see what you think. I think there is some good stuff in there for everyone!

Enjoy

Top 5 Photos

Top 5 Video Tutorials

Top 4 Books

The 4 Hour Work Week & The Shortness of Life Post

The Miracle Morning

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

The Dharma Bums

Scouting & Planning for Star, Milky Way and Night Sky Photography - Free Video Series

Ready to take your night sky photography to the next level? Provided below is my free three part video series on scouting and planning for Milky Way, star & night sky photography.

These video tutorials are a great supplement to the Free Milky Way and Star Trail Photography Tutorials contained on this website. You can also find a bunch of other great information in both of the links noted above. I also provide a Free Star Trails Post Processing Video Tutorial and Milky Way Post Processing Video Tutorials for all of you Photoshop and Lightroom users out there!

In the following 3 videos I'll show you all of the programs and tricks I use to scout for my photography shoots.

You can use many of these tips & tricks for landscape photography as well. 

Make sure to check out the video notes which are provided below each video ( on YouTube ) for free eBooks, links and other helpful information which are mentioned in the tutorial. 

While you're over there subscribe to my YouTube channel for more video tutorials.

Part 1 - Moon Phase, Dark Skies & Weather

Part II - The Photographer's Ephemeris & Google Earth

Part III - Stellarium