Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

84NETgal · 02:03 AM

Any tips for going out in the middle of the night with my wide angle tonight for the Hunter's Moon? I haven't done night shots all that much (read: only once) so for you experienced folks,

when's a good time to get the most amount of moonlight?

at 18mm, what kind of f/stop are we looking at here? f/8?

For a full moon (tonight) what exposure time ballpark should I aim for?

Any tips, techniques I should use? filters?

Anyone want to come? i.e. someone who has a tripod I can borrow, because i left mine in another city.

Seriously, PM me asap if you want to go out and do some long exposures tonight--it's slated to be the best full moon of 2005 and I'd say that's a good time to get my first try, right?

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astron...moonnames.html

LoungeLizard · 11-14-2005, 06:51 PM

Look at the "moon shoot" threads in the Houston section. I seem to recall exposure information being given for some of the shots there.

popawalker · 11-14-2005, 07:34 PM

Seems I remember shooting f 11 and f 16 at 125 to 250, seemed to work. At 18mm it is going to be a dot on your photo I think. Here's a couple of sites with good info.
Are you in Austin or Houston today?
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/howtophoto/
http://www.danheller.com/moon.html
Steve

JamesB · 11-14-2005, 08:16 PM

umm guys, I think she wants to use the moon light to illuminate her subject.

I have no experience with these types of shots.

James

blevey · 11-14-2005, 08:31 PM

i was allways told that the Sunny F16 rule applies.. that the moon puts off teh same amount light as the sun.... try and see!!!

Bob

Charloto · 11-14-2005, 08:31 PM

I was wanting to go out tonight as well.. not feeling so well so will probably take a few night shots in the yard :) You really need a tripod if you're doing really long exposure shots like that or it will all be a blur. As for settings, it depends on the amount of time your shutter will be open. Here is a link to a guy that does spectacular night shots, he usually lists his settings as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/notraces/sets/270103/ Hope you have fun!

icdapoakr · 11-14-2005, 08:37 PM

just went out and took pictures of the moon. my best exposures (although still a little dark) were 1/400 f/8.0

none of them turned out good because the focus was off but it was a good first try. i could still go out and try again but then again i'm not a go getter

Killeenguy · **what's that a glare??? -** 11-14-2005, 09:12 PM

i suppose that's my filter causing that glare..because i removed it for the last shot..and it was minimized greatly...and do u see the UFO..in the picture :P... im guessing it's a satilite.

p.s. and by all means i was just messing around...w/ this shot..u could say i was "in the dark" about shooting this particular image ;)

Gordon · 09:32 PM

if you've got a digital camera the easiest way to work out night exposures is to ramp up the ISO to the highest value that's one of ISO 800, 1600 or 3200 and put your lens at the widest aperture, then use the matrix metering mode of your camera (and adjust up or down if you want a lighter or darker subject)

You'll get a shutter speed from that. From there, you can half the ISO and double the time, down to a reasonable ISO, and then further double the time and increase aperture by a stop at a time to get to the final exposure that you want.

If you don't have a cable release or a timer, you'll probably be limited to around 30 seconds. With a cable release/ timer you'll be limited by the noise buildup of your camera, which will be somewhere between 5 minutes and the battery life of your camera, depending on the model.

Also, remember to switch off any in camera noise reduction, or you'll be standing around for a while!

f5.6 for 45 minutes at ISO 100

13 minutes @ f/4.5, ISO 160

h00kemh0rns · 11-14-2005, 09:35 PM

Love that stuff Gordon...need to take some tips from you for night time shooting. Might have to bend your ear when we get together next month for the Austin Get Together.

evil4blue · 11-14-2005, 09:38 PM

Your exposure times are going to be long if you're just trying to get moonlight to light your subject. I'll bet your still looking at a few seconds of exposure time.

Now, I just went out and snaped a quickie of the moon itself and my exposure was f/10, 1/400, iso400, 300mm. The following was direct from the camera after jpg convert and 100% crop.

Gordon · 11-14-2005, 09:42 PM

My current fav. low light/ night photo - after the sun had set and the moon was coming up:

3 minutes, f/16, ISO 100

Gordon · 11-14-2005, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evil4blue

Now, I just went out and snaped a quickie of the moon itself and my exposure was f/10, 1/400, iso400, 300mm. The following was direct from the camera after jpg convert and 100% crop.

Sounds about right - the moon is a sunlit subject, so the sunny 16 rule applies (1/100s, at F16, ISO100) except you probably want it a bit brighter than a mid grey, so you can open up by one stop, so
1/50s, f16, ISO 100
1/100s, f11, ISO100
1/200s, f11, ISO200
1/400s, f11, ISO400

which is right about where you ended up, assuming I got all my figures lined up right :)

JamesB · 11-14-2005, 09:51 PM

great shots Gordon. I will give it a try to take my own version of the Casa Granda shot next week.

James

Gordon · 11-14-2005, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesB

great shots Gordon. I will give it a try to take my own version of the Casa Granda shot next week.

James

Just try not to screw up the focus like I did then. One thing I learned about many zoom lenses, infinity is not as far round the focus wheel as you can go, and the infinity point varies for different focal lengths, on the same zoom lens.