Reader photo: Oh, starry night

Star trail photography is one of the true telltale signs that you have moved beyond casual photos and are on your way to full-fledged photography addiction (if you’re not there already). A time-lapse photo, such as today’s pick, requires dedication, patience, equipment and some luck.

Photographer David Sanden‘s photos have popped up occasionally on SoCal Moments over the past years, but this recent photo was his first foray into star trail photography. Having shot photos for more than 30 years, Sanden wrote in an email that he is always challenging himself to learn something new. After a bit of Internet sleuthing and watching YouTube videos to learn about creating this effect, Sanden and his wife took a trip to Joshua Tree and tried creating different types of time-lapse photos, including this shot -- which took more than two hours to achieve.

Capturing 209 photos, each with a 30-second exposure, this image was created by layering the photos together to create a star trail look. To read more details of Sanden’s shoot, head over to the photo on his Flickr page.

Each week, we’re featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or reader submission gallery. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.