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STORY: At -282' below sea level, Death Valley's Badwater Basin is usually one of the clearest and darkest places on earth - a great spot to see the most stars through the least amount of atmosphere...This first attempt was built from dozens of frames of exposures ranging from 30s to 2min with overall star trail times of 20-30 min. Individual exposures were limited to 2 min, so the resulting length of star trails are comprised of several layers in lighten mode with virtually each layer (frame) noise reduced by dark frame subtraction and/or noise reduction program applicatoin per frame in camera. This method produces gaps in the star trails which had to be filled by retouching. Further extensive retouching was required to eliminate even further noise from the Nikon D100's little CCD sensor. The ambient temperature was 80º on the desert floor, and after every several minutes of increased heat in the sensor, a new true dark frame was necessary (same duration but with the lens cap on). The base exposure in each of five directions was shot with NR on.
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