Archive for 2014
A Bright Light In The Shadow Of Mordor
With the last of the Hobbit movies being released tonight I thought it only perfect to do a light review over Monolith's Shadow of Mordor.
I am absolutely thrilled with Shadow of Mordor. It is probably the best Lord of the Rings game there has ever been. There has been a lot of talk that it is a copy cat of Assassin's Creed style of play with even a way to make enemies glow, so you can slowly stalk them and destroy them in the end. However, this game game can stand on its own and talk for itself. The creators were absolutely right when they talked about how players will realize Shadow of Mordor really is a game on its own. I have recently played Assassin's Creed Black Flag and I have Assassin's Creed Unity and I can definitely say although there are some similarities there are key differnces in Shadow of Mordor. What sets Shadow of Mordor apart from the rest is the personalization of the enemy and power struggles going on between them. The developers call this the nemesis system and it really does give this game an awesome twist.
First of all, it really really really sucks when you die. All the hard work you accomplished by killing all the captains, gaining intel, ect... just ends being filled by new captains and other captains being promoted to a more powerful Orc.
This makes this game very challenging and gives a sense of ultimate vengeance when you go back and eliminate your target!
I love this game. It has given me an idea of what it was to be a ranger in Tolkien's world.
I am very sad about Tolkien's rein coming to an end in the film world... maybe not though... maybe they will decide to do a film over the Silmarillion (the history of the Elves) or even a film over Tom Bombadil.
Tolkien's works will always be alive and inspiring people all over the globe. I for one can say I would be absolutely ecstatic to see more video games come alive in Middle Earth. Also, thank you to Monotlith for making it a possibility to be a part of Tolkien's world. For fans like myself, this is a very awesome opportunity.
Tolkien and Eowyn: The Gender Binary
In one of my grad classes (Issues: In Gender Communication), we had to show some sort of way gender issues are present whether masculine or feminine. First of all, I will not label myself as either activist. I just like to observe... I'm more of a critical theorist when it comes to my scholarly work but I found this one pretty fun to write about. I also want to note that I do not believe Tolkien was a feminist or trying to portray those messages within his works, but I wanted to point out in this paper that he really was an advocate for writing strong female characters. In this paper I focused on Eowyn in particular. So if you are interested in gender studies or have something interesting to comment please by all means say something!!! With no further ado my paper on Tolkien and Eowyn (its rather short hehe):
J. R. R. Tolkien is my absolute favorite author. Although he has never proclaimed to be
feminist or what not I have been able to analyze his work in a different
perspective as I reread his works. Tolkien, from my knowledge so far, has
always written strong independent female characters in his novels. I am going
to focus on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, particularly the third book “Return
of the King.” There are not many female characters in his works, but when he
does present them these characters are able to stand alone if need be (no
supporting male character). Eowyn is a fictional character in the trilogy, present in the “Two Towers,” and “Return of
the King.” She is a noblewoman of Rohan (the horse masters) who is described as
a shield maiden.
The reason Eowyn sticks out to me so
much is because of her attitude of how women are “supposed to be” even in
Tolkien’s fantasy world. He did have the medieval overtones in his works and
women of this time, especially noblewomen, were expected to stay inside, be
lady like, and not contribute to a bigger cause. It is an important aspect that Tolkien
decided to put this character in his books. He must have realized the
inequality issues among men and women and the power men had to perform greater
deeds. In the book, Tolkien describes her character as wanting to win renown in
battle, but loathing the idea that she would be “in a cage” all her life
because her duties were supposed to lay at Edoras. Quoted from Eowyn’s
character:
“to stay behind bars, until use and old age
accept them, and all chance of great deeds is gone beyond recall or
desire.”
After
reading Foss and Bordo, this line came clearer, not only in reality does the
gender binary exist, but we are forced to recon with it even in fantasy. Even
though Tolkien was being more authentic as to how men and women would perhaps
act in this world; it showed me that even this great author was greatly
influenced by the gender binary and the social constructed reality surrounding
it. Not even in fantasy could he escape it. The gender binary is a social
constructed reality that we cannot escape, no matter how marginalized we
believe ourselves to be. We know it exists, but yet we must coexist with it.
Eowyn was trying to escape the roles their society placed upon her. She wanted
to confront enemies in battle and contribute to the cause all men were fighting
for: the salvation of Middle Earth from Sauron’s dark and menacing hold.
Eowyn breaks
the hegemonic norms of their cultural practices and disguises herself as a male
warrior and participates in the biggest battle of Middle Earth. The upcoming
events depict how women are physically and mentally able to with stand the
toils of war as well completing outstanding acts of courage. Tolkien decides to
break the hegemonic norm as well by writing a female character of this caliber
(Tolkien also wrote the trilogy during most of WWII and it was published in the
1950s). A crucial break of the gender binary is performed when Eowyn encounters
the Witch King of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul. A battle proceeds between the two
of them and the Witch King boasts,“No living man may hinder me,” which referred
to an old prophecy foretelling the Witch-king would not fall “by the hand of
man.” Eowyn then removes her helmet and declares:
“But no living man am I! You look upon a
woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin.
Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you,
if you touch him.”
In a few
more moments of exchanging blows, Eowyn delivers a sword into the Witch-kings
head, thus killing him. This is a crucial moment for women in the trilogy, this
showed that women can embody the same power and courage as men even though they
are advised against such behavior. It also proved that a woman can change her
course of fate besides that gender has delivered to her. This is a challenge
faced by all women today, past, and future. There will always be a battle
between who is superior and who is able to lay the “unwritten rules” and who has
to abide by them.
Being a
female myself, I have stood numerous trials leading against who I want to be
versus what society tells me I need to be. I am like Eowyn. I want to earn
respect through what you would consider “masculine deeds.” Why? Because masculine
deeds are worthy of respect and praise in our categorized world. Eowyn enacted her own agency by taking action.
She “assessed conditions around her and saw that she could change something by
taking a particular action.” (Foss pg. 19) Although my agency isn’t created
through real battles between Witch-kings, I still have created some through my
physical conditioning and ability to outperform some men. Of course I was
scrutinized, but I also created a world of rigid respect. I was strong; people
didn’t want to cross wrong paths with me. I reveled in it. Eowyn wanted the
same type of renown and respect. Not to just pass her life by living to what
duties her culture assigned to her. I don’t know many women that have won the
respect of her people by sweeping triumphantly.
Then we step
back and take a look at what the social construction of reality has completed
for us; what has been categorized as female duties versus male duties. It seems female duties are equivalent to the
behind the scenes techies at a play production. They do a lot of work but it
doesn’t really get recognized, they dress in all black, try to stay invisible,
but because of them the play runs smoothly. Just like the Foss sisters say,
“the social construction perspective says is that the pile of dirt and rocks
cannot be conceptualized as a mountain until someone gives it that label.” A
woman’s deeds usually go unnoticed unless they are conceptualized as a
masculine label. “Symbols not only create a particular reality, but they create
orientations or attitudes that generate various motives for actions.” (Foss pg
33)
Although
Eowyn’s deeds do go noticed she ends up falling back to the gender binary. I
believe that is what a lot of women do after exploring the hatred that
associated with men’s territories. It
was almost as if Tolkien realized that that was too much power for a woman to
hold and she ends up falling in love with a great warrior Famamir (this is
after recovering from nearly dying from the Witch-Kings spells). Tolkien writes:
“Then
the heart of Eowyn changed, or else at last she understood it… … “I will be a
shield maiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in
the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are
not barren.”
I must admit
I felt a little defeated by this line, almost as if it was too much for her to
handle. This situation only reiterates that war is only for men. Only they can
keep carrying the burden and rejoicing in slaying enemies. She ends up
accepting the role society has placed upon her, which most women end up doing
anyway. She still held the respect of
men and was renowned as Lady of the Shield-arm in recognition of her triumph
over the Witch-king. It took a deed this huge, slaying an enemy that was
supposedly could not be killed, for her to earn the title “Lady of the
Shield-arm”.
Even in
Tolkien’s world we are faced with many aspects of the gender binary and the
challenges people have to face because of its existence. Unfortunately, I do
not think the binary will ever disappear. It is our job as communication
scholars to help people to become voluntarily aware of what is being
subconsciously practiced and hopefully we can veer somewhat away from the
constricting practices. Hopefully recognizing this will also help people meet
enlightenment of themselves, instead of always fighting and exhausting
themselves trying to continue to maintain the mask they are wearing.
Unfortunately, Eowyn did “give in” to the societal roles but she did make a
stand for what she believed in. Ultimately, I think that is the goal for many
people. To continue to follow and stand up for what they believe in.
I Have Bearded Dragon Hatchlings For Sale!!!
My husband and I have a side hobby/business breeding reptiles. We breed many types of reptiles but mostly bearded dragons and ball pythons! We have some other reptiles like a veiled chameleon, a tokay gecko, and a few uromastyx.
To get to the point, we have a ton of bearded dragon babies for sale!!! We love to give them proper homes so please contact us!!!
These are just a few of our many hatchlings we have available. We have Dunners, Hypos, Translucents, and other hatchlings available!!!
1) 0.1 Female Rainbow Trans Tiger
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AWESOME PATTERNING, STOCKY AND VIBRANT COLORS (I'm proud of this girl, possible holdback if she doesn't sell) $300
2) 0.1 Female Hypo/Trans
Sire: Kronos (coral hypo/trans WDD import) X Dam: Hera (Orange trans het hypo Rainbow Bearded Dragons) Hatch Date: 09/05/2014
STOCKY BUILD, BEAUTIFUL COLORS NICE REDS $200
3) 1.0 Male Coral Trans/Hypo
Sire: Kronos (coral hypo/trans WDD import) X Dam: Hera (Orange trans het hypo Rainbow Bearded Dragons) Hatch Date: 09/05/2014
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Sire: Kronos (coral hypo/trans WDD import) X Dam: Hera (Orange trans het hypo Rainbow Bearded Dragons) Hatch Date: 09/05/2014
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4) 0.1 Female Dunner pos. het Trans/Hypo
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You can contact us here as well!!!
We have a lot of love put into our animals and can't wait to find them new homes!!
Am I Otaku???
From earlier posts, you all know that I have a strong lovre for anime, particularly Studio Ghibli. I recently came across the word OTAKU, pretty much meaning you are obsessed with everything and anything anime related. I know I had a strong pull toward anime, especially now that I've discovered a whole new world of subtitled goodness, but I never had a "label" to go by.
I never really cared, I just loved anime. However, when I discovered what otaku meant I felt like I fit in that description pretty well.
When I was five years old, during the good ole VHS days, my mother would take me to the local video rental store and every time, it never failed, I would run straight to the foreign section and pick up my favorite movie (still in my top 5 list by the way) which happened to be Studio Ghibli's magical movie "Totoro." Mind you this copy of the movie was completely in Japanese and although it had subtitles what 5 year old is that fantastic of a speed reader? So basically I had know idea what was going on dialog wise but I loved it. I loved it so much I got irritated feedback when it was the only movie I ever wanted to watch.
After, thinking for a while I realized that anime had been a huge part of my childhood and has still stood the test of time.
Next in progression in my life was being obsessed with Digimon. Augumon was my favorite character, probably influenced by my passion of reptiles. I even had one of those digimon digivices where you could battle your friends on the play ground.
Then of course I fell in love with Pokemon. This has been one of my childhood loves that has followed me into adulthood. (Currently writing this in a starter pokemon blanket) I remember collecting cards and I still have a large collection today. I played Pokemon red and other pokemon games always ready for the next game to be released. (Yes I already have the demo for omega)
Then as I grew older I was allowed to stay up later. Thats the best, getting your bed time extended. I ran into the discovery of Toonami broadcast late at night and my love for Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon. I think Gundam Wing was partly influenced by Power Rangers too. Haha.
Presently, I own all of the Ghibli collection and rewatch them on a regular bases. After Netflix entered my life I was thrown into a plethora of anime goodness. Of course I would watch anime night on cartoon network but its not the same being able to watch a whole season in one day!
I just finished a rather dark type anime called Tokyo Ghoul. ( i finished it on Halloween, a good end to a creepy Holiday i think) I really liked it and in the past month I have watched Ghost Hunt, Vampire Knight, Vampire Knight Guilty, and some other bits and pieces of anime.
It really has become a familiar world to me and I am in love with my obsession. What a wonderful world of fans too! So yes, after much thinking, I really do think I am OKATU!!
Do you consider yourself an obsessive lover of anime? I always love to watch new ones (particularly dark ominous types) Please share!! I would love to see your top 10 lists!
What In The World Is Kawaii????
Tag :
cute,
hello kitty,
japanese cute,
kawaii,
kawaii food,
lolita fashion,
pikachu,
pokemon,
sweet lolita
What In The World Is Kawaii????
For the longest time I have seen so many cute Japanese type illustrations and I never knew what the style was called. Well, I finally was able to click on a really cute picture of fruit and found out it's in the style
"Kawaii". Kawaii (かわいい?, [kaw͍aiꜜi], "lovable", "cute", or "adorable"[1]) is the quality of cuteness in the context of Japanese culture.[2][3][4] It has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms.[5]
The word "kawaii" originally derives from the phrase 顔映し, which literally means a "radiant face", but more commonly referred to the blushing of an embarrassed person. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawaii)
In my earlier posts, you know I really like to study other cultures. Its a weird fascination of mine. Anyway, being a graphic designer on the side I decided to take a spin on my own kawaii images. So far I have a sketch and as soon as I get it transferred into Illustrator and looking all pretty I will post it on here!!!
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| starting sketch of my kawaii design |
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| finished design!!! by Asia Sansalone |
I think it is the cutest thing ever and often gives me sort of a warm glowy feeling inside!
Kawaii style doesn't just stop with illustrations of food, but other kinds of things like fashion and make up, and just an overall type of life style.
Kawaii fashion is called "Lolita" and "Sweet Lolita" this fashion is based upon the Victorian Era and a mixture of porcelain doll looks. This often entails dresses with a lot of bows and ribbons and lace. Even some men decide to partake in this fashion and some even go as far as dressing as kawaii women.
Kawaii products are ever present in the harmonious driven Japanese culture. I had a grand opportunity to visit Japan when I was a little girl and I remember a lot of kawaii products. I didn't know the name of it then, but I wanted everything. Even stationary looked invitingly cute!!!
The most common place the western culture can recognize this style is in some Japanese based cartoons. Pokemon is a huge one with Pikachu being a huge kawaii mascot. Another huge kawaii type character that is easliy recognized is Hello Kitty! She's everywhere in Walmarts! Little girls absolutely adore her, but now wonder she's an adorable kitty!!
The Kawaii culture has definitely grown in Japan and I think that is majorly due to globalization. Who doesn't love adorable stuff, I like the idea of almost featureless faces... I never drew noses on my smiley faces ever since I can remember... anyway... it's really a big part of the Japanese culture and is starting to satisfy a global quench of cuteness!
I would love to see any of the Kawaii things you all like or have drawn!! Please share
Wednesday's Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse and How To Photograph It
UPDATE!!!!! I had a lot of fun photographing the eclipse! It was challenging but really awesome to look at! I ended up using my telephoto lens and here is probably my favorite shot out of about 100 photos. NO EDITING OR PHOTOSHOP! RAW IMAGE!
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| Photo by Asia Sansalone |
Tonight, well early morning October 8th there will be an astronomical phenomenon known as a lunar Eclipse as well as a blood moon. The full eclipse will start at 6:25 a.m. EDT and last until 7:24 a.m, according to NASA.
What is a lunar eclipse? It is an eclipse in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the earth's shadow.
Why is it a" blood moon"? The moon will appear a coppery red, so it's been called a "blood" moon. It'll look red because of all the sunsets and sunrises from the Earth that will reflect onto the lunar surface.
This is a perfect opportunity for all photographers to get some really awesome photos of the moon. I'm planning on doing a multiple exposure photo. That means I will take multiple shots of the progression through the lunar eclipse. Afterward, in Photoshop I will compile the images into one photograph. This will show the movement of the lunar eclipse.
How to photograph the lunar eclipse using the Multiple exposure technique.
The multiple exposure technique gives you a special frame of movement capturing the total lunar eclipse compiled into one photo. With digital cameras, a series of exposures are shot during the eclipse and saved as separate image files. These are later stacked and combined into one image using a photo editing program like Photoshop.
This involves finding your exposure. Doing some test shots before the eclipse starts is a good idea.
Use a tripod and manual focus on a lens of your choice. A wide angle lens is best for a multiple exposure shoot but you can use a telephoto lens to get a large picture of the moon. An essential key to the success of this method is ensuring that your camera and tripod remain absolutely rigid and do not move throughout the eclipse.
Your ISO will probably be within the 400-1600 range on the smallest aperture available depending on your lens you are using.
The shutter speed will be anywhere around 8 seconds to 15 seconds. You don't really want any longer than that or you will get a star trail effect.
Correction: I was shooting the moon at about 1/400 of a second and then as the eclipse was happening I slowed my shutter speed to about an 8th of a second. 15 seconds was way too long and gave me an over exposed moon.
Make the first exposure as the partial eclipse begins and then shoot additional exposures every five to ten minutes. Be consistent and use the same time interval between every shot. This will produce an aesthetically pleasing string of evenly spaced Moon images showing the progress of the eclipse. (http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html)
Since the exposure changes through out the eclipse process you will need to adjust along with the shots.
After taking your pictures of the eclipse stack them in photoshop and play around with the stacking effects until you get the desired look.
I will update this post with pictures I'm taking tomorrow morning!
Please share your lunar pictures too!!!
After taking your pictures of the eclipse stack them in photoshop and play around with the stacking effects until you get the desired look.
I will update this post with pictures I'm taking tomorrow morning!
Please share your lunar pictures too!!!
15 Products That Will Keep You Tolkien
I love Tolkien, he is probably my all time favorite author. That being said I have a slight obsession over anything Lord Of The Rings, Hobbit, Elven/Dwarven, anything Tolkien. I spend a lot of time on Pinterest. I mean a lot of time, it's my go to vegitating spot when I'm not working on some crazy paper or playing my favorite video games. Anyways with out further a do.... here are 15 Tolkien inspired products for that awesome nerd in you.
1. A One Ring Inspired Mug
One mug to rule them all, one mug to find them, one mug to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. You could totally DIY with all of those sharpie mug tutorials.
2. Lord of The Rings Monopoly
Whoa! I'll take Mordor for $200 please. A perfect spin on a classic game.
3. That's What I'm Tolkien About T-Shirt
Sport this nerdy gear and you'll be the talk of your club. Even wear it to the next Hobbit release in December!!!
Popular from the fellowship of the ring the "Speak friend and enter," quote on the doors of the Mines of Moria.
5. The Eye of Sauron Desk Lamp
This eye will never let you down in the dark for he is the manifest of darkness itself.
6. Hobbit Yahtzee
Another classic game turned into pure awesome.
May all of your dreams be filled with Tolkien glory (it's a fairly decent price too!!!)
8. The Music of The Lord of The Rings
This is truly a must have for all of those LOTR fans. Howard Shore's music is absolutely fantastic and this is a must have.
"What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"
There's even a tutorial to show you how to make your own!!!
10. The One Ring Black Speech Fire Pit
How awesome it glows like the ring does when a fire is lit!!
11. Run Like Ring Wraiths Are After You
If a group of undead kings doesn't motivate your inner Hobbit to run faster, I don't know what will.
12. Hobbit Slippers
Keep your feet warm with Hobbit feet!! Extra hair for extra warmth!
13. Tree of Gondor T-Shirt
Sport the Gondor crest and connect with your favorite fictional world and characters
14. Ring Wraith Hooded Coat
Ever wanted to be an undead king? Here is your chance to chase after some Hobbits to answer the call of the One Ring
15. Smaug Funko Pop! Character
Who wouldn't love this adorable little Smaug. I am Fire, I am Death, I am Cute!!
There you have it! 15 awesome Tolkien products to please your Middle Earth needs!!
Do you have any Tolkien products that have just wow you out of your adventuring shoes? Please Share!!
DIY Legend of Zelda Lamp
Last semester, or two semesters ago, honestly I can't remember, I had received an assignment in one of my classes to use recycled materials into something new. I chose glass and actually was in a Legend of Zelda obsession at the time. I decided I was going to turn a big glass pickle jar into an awesome Zelda lamp! It actually got voted the most creative and made it in the top three recycled creations. You can use these materials to do any kind of design too.
Things you will need:
1. Jar
You can choose any jar. I just chose a large one
2. Glass Paint
You can pick this up at Hobby Lobby for about 3 bucks. Click the link for the actual product
3. Liquid Glass Leading
4. Design
I searched around for all kinds of designs to use, but in the end I made my own based on the Hyrulian shield Link uses. I found my color scheme and drew my design up on paper.
5. Paint Brushes
Any paint brushes will do. Even the cheap ones. I found the smaller ones were a lot easier to use for better detail
6. Strand of Christmas Lights
I used plain white lights that I had laying around the house. They give the fairy in the bottle effect which is really well known in the Zelda world.
7. Time
The more time you take to think of your design the better it will turn out. The paint also looks really good with a few coats.
What to do:
-First you want to make sure that the jar is really clean, go to the recycling center/flea markets/garage sales you can find all kinds of jars.
-Draw up your design. You can make it as simple or as complex as you want. I found that drawing the design with sharpie on the reverse side of the design on transfer paper/parchment paper made it easier to trace on the actual bottle with the liquid leading.
-Trace your design with the liquid leading. The liquid leading gives the bottle that stained glass effect. The separation of pieces. A lot of people thought that I had actually broken the bottle and pieced it back together. (I definitely found a much easier and faster process with the liquid leading)
- Paint in the design. The paint is a little weird at first when starting out. It comes on kind of pastel looking but will dry to a clear stained glass look. The more coats of paint the darker the hue of the paint will be
-Take your time! The more time you take the better your design and composition of the whole piece will be. It also takes time to dry!
- Make sure your Christmas lights work and then place them inside the jar. It gave mine the fairy in the bottle look that is ever so popular in the Zelda world. Then plug it in and watch the wonders of Zelda come alive!
-There you have it! One awesome geeky lamp for all your geeky needs. I found that it makes more of a really cool decorative lamp than anything!!
Hey Zelda Fanatics Share your awesome DIY Zelda crafts!!!
Star Trails Tutorial
I had mentioned in my about me section that I am a communications graduate but emphasized in photojournalism. I love taking photographs of the night sky. Star trails are beautiful and an easier way to start an amateur photographer into astrophotography. What are star trails? They are a compilation of photographs (a lot of photographs) put together in an photo editing software to show the movement of Earth relative to the stars.
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| Photograph by Asia Sansalone |
Things you need for your star trails:
1. DSLR Camera
2. Wide Angle lens/lens that will get you a large portion of sky
3. Tripod
4. Remote timer
5. Very Dark Sky
6. Photo Editing Software
7. Clear Weather
8. Time
Tutorial For Awesome Star Trail Photos:
1. Get your camera set up. Set up your camera on a sturdy tripod in a very dark place outside pointed into a composed picture ( you can add trees/rocks/houses in the fore ground to give it some depth)
2. Focus your shot. For this you must turn your camera to manual focus. Point you camera at a very bright star and focus your lens until the star becomes sharp and clear. Try hard not to bump you lens from this point on. (This can be kind of hard especially if the moon is in the sky)
3. Find your exposure. When it comes to photographing the stars, exposure time is probably the most important. Usually it falls with in the 15sec-30sec range depending if the moon is out or you are in a more light polluted area (next to a city). Exposure is determined by your shutter speed and ISO settings. My ISO is usually around 1600 when I am shooting star trails.
4. Connect your remote timer. The remote timer allows you to be able to hook up your camera and chill out for a few hours while your camera is doing all of the work. Set your timer for as many pictures is can take possible at an interval of 0 seconds and the exposure time for about 30 secs ( I say about because where you are located and if there is a moon in the sky can change the exposure length any where from 15 secs to 30 seconds)
5. Leave your camera. After you have your shot set up and remote timer ready to go, you can leave your camera where it is for a few hours. Watch a favorite movie, read a book, or have a picnic outside. The longer you have the camera out shooting the more star trails there will be. The shot above took about 4 hours and consisted of compiling about 346 pictures.
6. Pick your photo editing software. I have two ways of compiling my star trail pictures. One way is I use photoshop (it takes a little longer) and the other is free star trail software called StarStax. StarStax is rather self explanatory but photoshop has a number of ways you can achieve the stair trail photograph.
7. Photoshop Startrails (made easy)
You can also do this in Photoshop by going to File -> Script -> Load Files Into Stack and then click OK. Wait for all the images to load, and then select all the layers and change the blending mode to Lighten. Try experimenting with different blending modes to get the desired effect.
There is also a photoshop action you can use to do the same thing but I feel like you don't have as much control but you can download that here
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| Photo by Asia Sansalone |
You can play around with exposure and shutter speed to change how your star trails will look. I would love to help you all if you have any questions. PS. you can also point your camera at the north star to get circular star trail patterns!
Please ask questions if you need anything clarified! I would love to see some of your examples of star trails!
