Shooting Star Trails

Establish composition.  

Set focus. Use manual focus & live view to get pinpoint stars.  

Set white balance. Take 30 sec shot, and use that image to set custom WB.  

Program intervalometer settings. (Example: on 50mm lens on APS-C crop sensor, use 6 sec intervals, 2sec gaps, 200-300 shots). Use initial delay for 10-20 seconds.  

Take test shot at planned settings and confirm results.  

Execute intervalometer program.  

Optionally collect dark frames at the end of the session with lens cap in place.  

Post process.