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| Star Trails Circle Polaris Frenchtown, Montana |
In order to produce a circle of star trails in the night sky, you point your camera toward the North Star, Polaris, and use a very long exposure time. Achieving this effect is easiest with manual exposure, the camera on a tripod and a clear night sky.
I used a 19mm lens set to its widest aperture of f/4, ISO 100 and an exposure time of almost 46 minutes. Since most cameras can only time up to a 30 second exposure, I used a cable release to lock the shutter open and relied on my phone to time the exposure. Because I used a low ISO setting to extend the exposure time, there was no noise in the final raw image.
Learn how to set the exposure controls manually to get the most from a raw photo in my new class Advance Your Digital Photography which begins September 1, 2026, at the Lifelong Learning Center in Missoula, Montana. Click here for more details and registration.