Just starting to try some timelapses. Interested in star photography, but having trouble getting a decent shot.
Have a simple D5100 w 35mm f/1.8 and a tripod to start with. So far, all of my shots turn out like daytime shots if I drag the shutter for more than 2 seconds, or use higher than ISO 1600.
Looking to figure out some basic settings. Might be my location (close to city), so planning on taking a trip to a family cabin out in the middle of nowhere next month.

Hey David I also live in Atlanta and just went to pine mountain about an hour and a half from the city and got some real good shots. http://vimeo.com/30947956 Check out http://cleardarksky.com/csk/ that helped me find this place. Hopefully this helps and good luck with everything. Let me know if you ever want to go out and shoot I'm always looking for someone to go shoot with.

That's a ton better than my couple of attempts. My scenes either turn out as bright as daylight, or don't show any stars. I have a really excellent place that I can film at in south Georgia, and another one in north Georgia, but Atlanta just seems to have too many lights. I'm right by Spaghetti Junction, which can't help.

I have one other friend that also goes with me when we try to work with the cameras. He has a D80 and a T3i, but hasn't done any timelapses either.

welcom!

for starlapses i used those settings by now:

20-30s. exposure
ISO 800-1600 (i dont want to crank it up because of too much noise)

in the city you hardly can catch any stars... too much light pollution... you'd have to drive somewhere outside the city...

good luck with further tries!