I love packing some food, warm clothes, 50+ pounds of photo gear, and heading up into the backcountry to some really dark place away from the city lights. Not only do you get some really great pictures of the stars above, but you get to reconnect with nature and get away from the day-to-day grind for a little while. Currently, I am shooting with two Canon full-frame DSLRS, a full kit of Canon glass, and a Camera Goat dolly controlled by the Syrp Genie motion time-lapse brain.

The earth rotates on its axis at about 1/2-degree per minute — so the stars will appear to rotate that same amount overhead. If we set a camera on a fixed tripod, open the shutter, and let the earth rotate us under the stars, we get an image that shows the stars as “streaks” or trails as they appear to move across the sky. The longer we leave the shutter open, the longer the trails will be in our final image. From here on out, experimentation and location will be key to capturing the stars above with your own personal shooting style.