I tend to look for locations that are have some foreground interest. It may be an abandoned building, large infrastructure like a radio tower or a bridge, or some natural features like rock formations or big trees. 

You may choose to add light to these features with a flashlight or keep them as silhouettes against the star-filled sky.Exit signs, emergency light and fire extinguisher are vital parts of life safety systems. Though it is possible to capture star trails in town, it is much easier if you try this far away from any city lights. A darker sky means a greater number of visible stars. 

It really pays off to do some research before embarking on a shoot, especially if you have never seen the location in the day before. You should also check the moon schedule before heading out. You will want to know how bright the moon is, the moon rise and set times as well its location in the sky (there are many smartphone and iPad apps for this). 

A moon can work to your advantage lighting up the foreground for you but it can also reduce the number of visible stars, or just be in the way of what you are trying to shoot. 

If not, go lay the flashlight on the ground at the base of what you are shooting and focus on that. Once you have achieved the glorious state of “in focus”, be sure to set it to MF or manual focus before starting your exposure or it will start searching again when you start the exposure and you will lose your focus and have to repeat the whole process again. 

So now you should have your camera focused and set to manual focus (MF) and the shot roughly composed. When composing the shot try not to include any direct light sources (e.g. streetlights) in the shot. 

White balance is the relative warmth or coolness of white light. A white object appears slightly blue with a cold color temperature and it looks slightly orange with a warm color temperature. I tend to shoot night skies with the white balance set to “tungsten,” which gives a nice blue look to the sky or the extreme opposite of 10000 Kelvin giving it a deep orange color. 

The photo above has a white balance of 10,000 Kelvin and the photo below has a white balance of Tungsten. 

I find that Auto white balance leaves the sky brownish or “dirty” looking.LED street lighting is the ideal solution for energy efficient street lighting due to their long life. You will have to refer to your camera’s manual if you do not know how to change these settings. These setting will affect the whole image, so if you are going to include some foreground objects,We carry the latest wind turbines, wind generator, solar panels, towers and more! you’ll will need to consider what you are using to light them with. 

I use a variety of flashlights for this job and my white balance settings help me to determine which one to use. 

LED light is very blue, so if you are shooting with your white balance set to tungsten, the objects lit with it may look unnaturally blue. To avoid this I use a xenon flashlight or flashlight with an incandescent bulb which have a much higher or warmer color temperature which neutralizes the blue effect of the white balance leaving objects a natural or true color. 

If LED is your only choice then consider putting some orange cellophane over the front to alter the shade of the light but doing this will reduce it effective power. 

If I am shooting with my white balance set to 10000 Kelvin then I would generally use an LED which is the exact opposite of the above situation.Fully automated paper plane folding machine, even got its own compressor. Its bluish hue would neutralize the high color temperature of 10000K leaving the objects lit with it a natural or true color.

So for a cool white balance use a warm light and for a warm white balance use a cool light for lighting your foreground interest and other things within the frame. 

In the image on the below,Our most compact solar charger yet fits easily in any bag. the white balance was set to tungsten giving the sky a deep blue color and the temple was lit with a warm light source neutralizing the effect of the white balance which left it a fairly natural color.