Star Trails on Film

One Roll, One Day - March 2020

This was a day I’ve been patiently waiting for. A day where all the stars aligned, literally and figuratively. I stuffed my bag with three medium format cameras - a Pentax 6x7, a newer Pentax 67, and my Hasselblad 500c/m - as the fam loaded up for a beach weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

I had one goal in mind this weekend, photograhy-wise: star trails on film. I’ve attempted this multiple times before, only to either fail or have the weather foil my plan. There are three critical requirements for the weather:

No clouds
No moon
Low moisture in the air (no haze)

This was my night. A bit windy, but the moon set at 11:40 pm. I had the Bodie Island Lighthouse to myself with no moon, no clouds, and no haze. I set up all three cameras, each facing a different direction. Shot by shot, here was my night:

Star Trails on Film ■ Pentax 67 ■ Pentax SMC 105mm f/2.4 ■ Fuji Acros 100

CAMERA 1 - PENTAX 67, PENTAX SMC 105MM F/2.4 AND FUJI ACROS

I headed up to the bird watcher perch to get this classic shot facing south with the boardwalk leading to the lighthouse. I wedge the camera between two boards in the railing and anchor it with a tripod. I’m nervous these brutal winds are going to shake the camera and ruin this night, but I was determined. Besides, my next shot at this wouldn’t be for 8-9 months. I set the aperture to f/5.6 and locked open the shutter with a release cable for the next two hours.

It’s my favorite shot. Ever. Film captured both the star trails and the beams created by the window supports of the lighthouse. The lighthouse softly lit the boardwalk, and the light pollution behind me from Nags Head helped provide a bit of light on the lighthouse itself. I spent the next day shooting burn shots just to get to develop this roll, which I double checked the developer and fixer before dunking that magnificent roll.

Star Trails on Film ■ Hasseblad 500c/m ■ Carl Zeiss 100mm f/3.5 ■ Fuji Acros 100

CAMERA 2 - HASSELBLAD 500C/M, ZEISS 100MM F/3.5 AND FUJI ACROS

Failure. Not in the shot execution, but for my laziness in not finding the little strip that holds your exposed roll together that went missing in the previous roll. I pulled out a roll of Delta 3200 before loading the Acros, and the lick-a-strip was missing. Gone. Wasn’t wound up in the spool, I guess it must’ve fallen to the ground when I pulled the insert out of the back. NOPE. Found it pinched after this roll inside the back where the darkslide slips in.

For the shot details, this is facing east. I set the aperture to f/4.8 and locked open the shutter with a release cable for 2 hours. Light pollution from the north (left) lit up the side of the lighthouse nicely. I only had two tripods, so I placed the camera on my canvas camera bag on the ground, which helped keep it out of the wind. Multiple times I had to chase the deer away from this camera. All for naught I guess, here’s to next time!

Star Trails on Film ■ Pentax 6x7 ■ Pentax SMC 55mm f/4 ■ Fuji Acros 100

CAMERA 3 - PENTAX 6X7, PENTAX SMC 55MM F/4 AND FUJI AROS

I love the swirl shots when facing the north star, and this one is no exception. With the wider focal length and facing north, I knew I had more room to stop down and still get bright trails. So with the wicked sharp 55mm f/4, I stopped down to f/8. Same with the previous two - locked open the shutter with a release cable and the wait began.

THE BURN SHOTS

One shot per roll for three cameras leaves a lot of other shots to get through. I spent the daytime with some long exposures, family shots and playing with a red filter. Enjoy the burn, but I hope you enjoyed the trails!

Head on over to Jennifer Stamps’ page to see how she spent her One Roll, One Day in March: One Roll, One Day.