Star Trails: How I made this Image
Kirkstone Pass looking towards Red Screes - 75, 30 seconds exposures, f1.8, ISO 800.
Star trail photography is a captivating way to showcase the movement of the stars across the night sky. While long-exposure techniques can produce in-camera star trails, stacking multiple exposures in Photoshop provides greater control and reduces noise. This guide will walk you through how I captured and processed the above image using Photoshop.
Step 1: Capture Your Star Trail Images
Before you start editing in Photoshop, you need a sequence of images. Here’s how to capture them:
Choose a Dark Location: I’ve been away in the Lake District so I drove up to Kirkstone Pass to take this shot as its much much darker than Kent.
Use a Sturdy Tripod: Any movement will ruin the effect, so a solid tripod is essential.
Set Up Your Camera:
Mode: Manual (M)
ISO: 800–3200, the lower the better here, I shot this image as ISO 800
Aperture: Use your fastest lens, I shot this at f1.8.
Shutter Speed: the lower the ISO you use the longer the shutter speed so you are likely to be around 30 seconds here.
White Balance: Tungsten or Daylight for a natural look, I shoot on auto and colour correct in post.
Use an Intervalometer: Set it to take continuous shots for 30–60 minutes or more, My camera actually has one built in, I set it to take 80 photos for this shot, I’d i’ve gone for more but honestly didn’t want to sit in the car any longer.
Focus infinity: Make sure your stars are in focus.
Expose Foreground: Optional really but I always like to take one photo exposed for the Foreground.
Step 2: Import and Prepare Your Images
Once you've captured your images, it's time to bring them into Photoshop.
Edit your foreground picture, I spent time on this image editing Red Screes which was pitch black from my view point.
Open Photoshop and go to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack.
Click Browse and select all the star trail images.
Ensure that Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images is unchecked (since the camera remained fixed).
Click OK to load all images as layers in a single document.
Step 3: Blend the Images for Star Trails
Select all layers in the Layers Panel (except the bottom layer).
Change the Blending Mode to Lighten—this will reveal only the brightest parts of each image (i.e., the stars).
If necessary, remove any unwanted elements such as aircraft trails using the Clone Stamp Tool or Layer Masking, This step can be ver time consuming.
Step 4: Enhance the Star Trails
To make the trails pop, consider the following adjustments:
Brightness & Contrast: Adjust these settings to make the stars stand out more.
Curves Adjustment: I like to add medium contrast and then slightly adjust till it fits, I added a graduated filter on the curves adjustment on this shot as the foreground was edited separately.
Colour Grading: As mentioned earlier I shot with auto white exposure so I corrected this and added in some saturation on the stars.
Remove Noise: Use Photoshop’s Noise Reduction Filter to clean up grainy areas.
Step 5: Final Touches and Exporting
Once satisfied with the result, follow these final steps:
Flatten the Image: Merge layers by pressing Ctrl + Shift + E (Cmd + Shift + E on Mac).
Crop and Resize: Adjust composition if necessary.
Sharpen the Image: Apply a slight sharpening filter to enhance details.
Save Your File:
As a PSB if you want to keep layers for future edits, my file for this image is 8.5gb which make me really glad I no longer have a 40mp camera.
As a JPEG for sharing and printing.
Conclusion
Creating star trails in Photoshop allows for flexibility and refinement that single long-exposure shots may lack. By stacking multiple images, you reduce noise and gain greater control over the final look. With the right preparation and editing techniques, you can produce breathtaking star trail images that showcase the beauty of the night sky.
One final tip, 50mm isn’t the best focal length so go as wide as you can.
