EV tables will come in handy - I find auto-exposure is not very reliable at night, and leaving the shutter open for ten minutes only to get a completely useless result is very discouraging. This will give me a ballpark to start from. (I know what you mean about not needing to consult tables - I can often intuit the exposure during daylight - but I'm a long way from having had enough practice at night.)
Great info, night shots can be very troublesome. A lot of times many, many shots must be taken to get just one good photo. You put together a very nice page, easy to read and wonderful photos!!!
Thanks for putting this up, really helpful info and full of magical photos to prove the methods work. Your photos are great, some of them are out of this world.
Beautiful pictures and lots of great info. Thanks for sharing! One thing I don't understand though... How do you get shutterspeeds longer than 30 seconds? My camera is not capable of taking longer pictures than that.
Digital SLRs all have fully manual settings on shutter speeds. Some of the more deluxe point and shoots do too, but yes, you have to have a camera with manual control options.....
The 5D certainly can do long exposures, that's a better camera than the one I am using. TO do an exposure longer than 30 sec, go to "bulb" mode (one click past 30 sec) and either stand there with your finger on the shutter button as long as you want the exposure to be or (better) you can buy a $20 remote for your camera on Amazon.com that allows you to just flick a switch and walk away from you camera until your exposure is done. Hope this helps....
This is what a friend of mine told me today too :-p Never knew the bulb option was meant to keep pressed. I tested it and it works indeed. Silly me. Thanks for replying and thanks again for all the info :-)
You've posted some great pictures and given a very good description of the science involved here. One of my uncles is an amateur astronomer. He influenced me to be interested in this kind of stuff.
I do hope your recovery is progressing Steph (read your article on accident stat's, followed by report on your own accident, which I was sorry to hear about).
And now I have stumbled across your night photography article, which is excellent, although I struggle with some of the physics, having not studied it since - oh dear - before you were born! But I am off to Aconcagua in Feb, armed with my Nikon D140, which as a recent convert to Digital, I am trying to make some progress with. Thus far, I have managed a few passable photo's, but more by being in the right place at the right time of day than by being able to do anything intelligent with the camera. Anyway, I shall make sure I read your article again before I go to Aconcagua - I'd love to be able to take some star and/or moon shots (looked it up - there should be a full moon at the right time, when I hope to be high up).
Take care - and get well soon,
Mark
nartreb - Apr 2, 2010 2:31 pm - Voted 10/10
excellent!EV tables will come in handy - I find auto-exposure is not very reliable at night, and leaving the shutter open for ten minutes only to get a completely useless result is very discouraging. This will give me a ballpark to start from. (I know what you mean about not needing to consult tables - I can often intuit the exposure during daylight - but I'm a long way from having had enough practice at night.)
rpc - Apr 2, 2010 3:58 pm - Voted 10/10
great!& thanks.
Vid Pogachnik - Apr 2, 2010 4:34 pm - Voted 10/10
Great article!Thanks a lot!
FlatheadNative - Apr 3, 2010 5:43 pm - Voted 10/10
ThanksI have been experimenting with some night photography and your article will help me do less experimenting and more photographing.....good on ya!
EricChu - Apr 3, 2010 6:53 pm - Voted 10/10
This is great!!A very good and very detailed article on a fascinating aspect of photography!
Marmaduke - Apr 3, 2010 10:15 pm - Voted 10/10
Fantastic pageGreat info, night shots can be very troublesome. A lot of times many, many shots must be taken to get just one good photo. You put together a very nice page, easy to read and wonderful photos!!!
barrys - Apr 4, 2010 7:14 pm - Voted 10/10
Great Article.Thanks for putting this up, really helpful info and full of magical photos to prove the methods work. Your photos are great, some of them are out of this world.
Mountain_girl - Apr 5, 2010 6:16 pm - Voted 10/10
Thanks!That is a great inspiration!
Aaron Dyer - Apr 6, 2010 10:21 pm - Hasn't voted
WowThis represents a lot of work and dedication. Excellent job!
Cedar - Apr 9, 2010 12:26 am - Voted 10/10
Very UsefulAnd an impressive collection of excellent examples on how to do it right!
hshdude - Apr 9, 2010 10:35 pm - Voted 10/10
beautifulVery nice contribution and stunning pictures!
Harm - Apr 10, 2010 6:12 am - Hasn't voted
AwesomeBeautiful pictures and lots of great info. Thanks for sharing! One thing I don't understand though... How do you get shutterspeeds longer than 30 seconds? My camera is not capable of taking longer pictures than that.
Cheers,
Harm
StephAbegg - Apr 10, 2010 7:23 am - Hasn't voted
Re: AwesomeDigital SLRs all have fully manual settings on shutter speeds. Some of the more deluxe point and shoots do too, but yes, you have to have a camera with manual control options.....
Harm - Apr 10, 2010 8:54 am - Hasn't voted
Re: AwesomeThanks for replying. I rechecked my canon 5d mark 2 but it goes to 30 seconds max on manual settings.
StephAbegg - Apr 11, 2010 7:35 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: AwesomeThe 5D certainly can do long exposures, that's a better camera than the one I am using. TO do an exposure longer than 30 sec, go to "bulb" mode (one click past 30 sec) and either stand there with your finger on the shutter button as long as you want the exposure to be or (better) you can buy a $20 remote for your camera on Amazon.com that allows you to just flick a switch and walk away from you camera until your exposure is done. Hope this helps....
Harm - Apr 13, 2010 3:21 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: AwesomeThis is what a friend of mine told me today too :-p Never knew the bulb option was meant to keep pressed. I tested it and it works indeed. Silly me. Thanks for replying and thanks again for all the info :-)
Cheers
Timothy Pearl - Apr 11, 2010 10:51 pm - Hasn't voted
WowAmazingly creative and artistic. Very inspiring!
Engendradodelayuca - Apr 15, 2010 12:00 pm - Hasn't voted
ExcellentVery good, i was lookyng exactly for that kind of information.
Gracias!
CheesySciFi - May 29, 2010 9:31 pm - Voted 10/10
FascinatingYou've posted some great pictures and given a very good description of the science involved here. One of my uncles is an amateur astronomer. He influenced me to be interested in this kind of stuff.
markhallam - Oct 3, 2010 12:35 am - Voted 10/10
Thanks for a very useful article!I do hope your recovery is progressing Steph (read your article on accident stat's, followed by report on your own accident, which I was sorry to hear about).
And now I have stumbled across your night photography article, which is excellent, although I struggle with some of the physics, having not studied it since - oh dear - before you were born! But I am off to Aconcagua in Feb, armed with my Nikon D140, which as a recent convert to Digital, I am trying to make some progress with. Thus far, I have managed a few passable photo's, but more by being in the right place at the right time of day than by being able to do anything intelligent with the camera. Anyway, I shall make sure I read your article again before I go to Aconcagua - I'd love to be able to take some star and/or moon shots (looked it up - there should be a full moon at the right time, when I hope to be high up).
Take care - and get well soon,
Mark