Star Trails over Mt. Rainier

coscorrosa

I did Mt. Baker on Saturday morning, and these ones from Baker's Bigger Brother (Mt. Rainier) this morning.

I went 29 years before taking my first set of star trails photos, and 24 hours between my first and second set!

Here are the three I took in order.

#1:



#2 (I think this is my favorite).



#3:



I was going to shoot the stars at Tipsoo Lake (after shooting sunset near there), I set my alarm for 1AM in my car (Hotel Toyota), woke up, and saw the mountain was completely covered in fog (but everywhere else was clear). I had nothing to lose so I drove 20 miles to Sunrise and the mountain was clearly visible there. I couldn't really find a great composition in the dark (and I don't know the trails at Sunrise at all), but I think these turned out OK. It was very windy and cold, so I had to hop around to warm up waiting for my long exposures to finish. I also have some star photos without trails and some alpenglow at sunrise, I'll process those when I'm more awake

thapamd

Dude, you're an animal! I completely agree...the 2nd shot is the best of the three, but I'd be proud to call any one of those mine. I especially love the lights on the mountain...from climbers, I presume?

I've always wanted to shoot Rainier star trails from somewhere south of the mountain, looking north. That way I could put Polaris directly on top of the peak and get some nice circles.

Awais Yaqub

Wow amazing !
Those lights on mountain, as pointed by Mahesh seems like result of "Star Rain"

richtersl

#2 is stunning! The color of the sky and the way the mountain is illuminated is just gorgeous.

What are those white streaks on the mountain?

coscorrosa

thapamd wrote:

Dude, you're an animal! I completely agree...the 2nd shot is the best of the three, but I'd be proud to call any one of those mine. I especially love the lights on the mountain...from climbers, I presume?

I've always wanted to shoot Rainier star trails from somewhere south of the mountain, looking north. That way I could put Polaris directly on top of the peak and get some nice circles.

That would be cool. During wildflower peak in Paradise in a month or so I might just try that out since I'll be on that side of the mountain anyway

And to answer your and Linda's question - yes, those are climbers. Looks like two distinct routes (the one on the far left is probably the same as the one in the middle), but that's just speculation. I have a hard enough time driving to the mountain let alone climbing it! If you view the photo at 100% crop you can make out the individual lights on each climber.

richtersl

They're climbers? Wow! :wow

bryanj87

I agree, number 2 is the pick here. Well done.

dseidman

I see you managed to get some good shots! I prefer the second from this series but all are good. I can even see the Milky Way blurred above the mountain in the first two images. Isn't this an awesome place to be at night? I love how many stars you can see and it's always cool when you can see the climbers on the mountain.

coscorrosa

dseidman wrote:

I see you managed to get some good shots! I prefer the second from this series but all are good. I can even see the Milky Way blurred above the mountain in the first two images. Isn't this an awesome place to be at night? I love how many stars you can see and it's always cool when you can see the climbers on the mountain.

Yeah, it was awesome at night. Even at Tipsoo I could see a ton of stars and the Milky Way, but the mountain was obscured. I'm glad I made the decision to go over to Sunrise where the mountain was actually visible. I need to go there during the day and scout around a bit, finding compositions when it's pitch black isn't usually a recipe for success

Robbug

NICE! Ya know I had a mind to get out there to do the same. Hell, we outta have all the PNW do a shoot out with star trails in mind. At least we could keep each other awake during the long exposures heheheh.

Rob

ps isn't it nuts but not really? The climbers. They are willing to get up during the wee hours to summit....yet you are up in the wee hours to capture the image

kdog

Sweet shots, Ron. These and the Golden one in the other thread as well. I agree with your choice of favorite. I like the muted colors in that shot.

Cheers,
-joel

coscorrosa

Robbug wrote:

NICE! Ya know I had a mind to get out there to do the same. Hell, we outta have all the PNW do a shoot out with star trails in mind. At least we could keep each other awake during the long exposures heheheh.

Rob

ps isn't it nuts but not really? The climbers. They are willing to get up during the wee hours to summit....yet you are up in the wee hours to capture the image

Mahesh was going to create a google calendar that we can use (I guess I could create it to, but I'm more of giver than taker when it comes to responsibility). Those climbers are indeed crazy, it's the same kind of crazy as photographers, except with athleticism thrown into the mix (which is why I'm taking pictures and not climbing mountains).

coscorrosa

kdog wrote:

Sweet shots, Ron. These and the Golden one in the other thread as well. I agree with your choice of favorite. I like the muted colors in that shot.

Cheers,
-joel

Thanks Joel!

dlplumer

Great set Ron. What more can I say

schmoo

Ron, so gorgeous! I'm curious to know what a 100% crop of the climbers looked like. What a catch

coscorrosa

schmoo wrote:

Ron, so gorgeous! I'm curious to know what a 100% crop of the climbers looked like. What a catch

Here it is:



That's from a 30-second/ISO 3200 exposure that I didn't post (a ton of noise!), here's the original shot:

Nikolai

Ron,
great stuff!
I agree, I like #2 the best of all three!

jamied

Rainier Star Trails
the star trails are really cool, but I just LOVE the climber trails heading up the mountain!!!

Great capture!