Raw files made my star trails actually look like stars

I used to rely on auto settings for all my night shots. The trails always came out blurry and dull. Switching to manual raw capture let me control the exposure perfectly. Now each point of light is crisp and the colors are deep. It turned my hobby from frustrating to amazing overnight.

3 comments

3 Comments

wadejenkins9h ago

Honestly, raw files completely saved my star trail shots too. Tbh, I was ready to give up after so many soft, washed-out attempts on auto. Switching to manual and capturing in raw gave me that crisp, detailed look I was always missing. The colors finally have that deep, vibrant feel that makes the whole shot pop. Ngl, it turned a frustrating chore into my favorite part of photography.

victoranderson7h ago

Deep, vibrant feel" sounds a bit much for a bunch of streaks in the sky. Even @sarahscott's point about light data seems overkill unless you're printing billboards.

sarahscott8h ago

That part about raw files giving 'that crisp, detailed look' really hits home, @wadejenkins. I was reading this photography blog last week that said raw is key for star trails because it keeps all the light data, which you can pull out in editing. They specifically talked about how jpegs squash the shadows too much, so you lose the faint stars that make trails look full. In my experience, that's totally true, but your mileage may vary with different cameras.