Frozen Farm Field Star Trails

Star trails wheel over a rural landscape in this view looking north from Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa on the evening of Tuesday, January 17, 2012. The bright stars of The Big Dipper can clearly be seen at center. The thin swath of light along the horizon at center was caused by traffic along Echo Hill Road, about .7 mile away. This image is a combined stack of 11 two-minute exposures at f/3.5, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length, and was shot from 6:56-7:18 PM. The stacking effect was created from StarStaX software. It took a little fortitude creating this shot as I had to stand out in the open in 13 degree F temperatures accompanied with 10-20 mph winds (wind chill around -7 degrees)! The area at right with the grove of trees is a local farmstead.