How about some pretty
stars for an end of the week, happy Friday background? I've tried this
shot before with several issues, such as the moon getting in the way or
sunrise coming too soon. To get dark enough skies for six and a half
hours, midwinter was the perfect setting. Colder temperatures help keep
hot pixels to a minimum too. I've been searching for the right settings
to capture enough light but not too long of an exposure (to avoid hot
pixels and amp noise). On this 24 degree night, ten minute exposures
were the ticket. I then put forty images together with
Dr Browns Stack-A-Matic
free photoshop plugin. Power is an issue for exposures this long, and
in this somewhat urban setting I was just able to run an extension cord
to the camera's ac adapter and pray that no one stole my gear as I
slept the night away.