My first attempt at night photography. Picked my settings based on a video I watched about night photography. Thrilled this even turned out but I know this photo could be better. I used my little Gorillapod to hold the camera still. One problem I had was seeing what was on the other end of the lens to be sure the photo was in focus. Instead some of the corn stalks are blurry. Regardless, the stream of light tickled me happy.
What can I do next time to capture an even better shot?
I think it looks great! Remember that you are doing a long exposure...even if you have everything focused perfectly, in that ten seconds there's bound to be a breeze blow through that might give some movement blur to your photo. Love the light stream!
Turned out great,Very nice Julz.I did read that if you set your camera to f16 or higher and do the exposure longer everything in the foreground and background will come out a lot clearer and and in focus.I haven't tried it yet so maybe someone who knows could verify this.Hope this helps.
@mitchell50@julz Using a very narrow aperture is a way to 'cheat' by having a much wider depth of field, hence increasing the likelihood that everything you want is in focus. However, it will result in lower-quality photos than if you get the focus right and use a wider aperture. (Of course, if you have a scene that needs a wide depth of field, then you should use a narrow aperture).
This is a fantastic photo for your first attempt at night photography. You have got the exposure spot on, captured the light trails nicely, and have come up with an interesting composition. Well done!
I would agree there seems to be some blur to this photo, I can't tell from the size available here whether this is due to focus error or due to the tripod slipping. You need a good solid tripod for night photography, as any motion will be picked up. As @tryeveryday mentioned, you will certainly see motion blur in the corn unless it's a dead still night. Finally, remember that if you have a lens with image stabilisation, this *needs* to be switched off for exposures much above 1/3rd of a second, as it will introduce significant blur in longer exposures.
If the camera won't autofocus, using live view is the best way to manually focus -- you can zoom into live view (using the same zoom controls as you use to zoom into a photo you've taken) to view part of the live image in close detail, and adjust the focus manually until it's just right. Although the live view display will be dark, you should still be able to see enough detail to focus somewhere in the image (I've managed to use live view to focus accurately on stars). Don't forget to turn the camera to MF mode so it doesn't adjust your focus once you've got it right.
Remember that all cameras these days have very good high ISO performance. You will get the maximum quality by using a low ISO, as you have done here, but for framing, composition and focus checking, don't be afraid to put the ISO up to 1600 or more -- you can then take shots very quickly and perfect the setup before lowering the ISO for the 'keeper'.
I have lots of night photos in my project that you're welcome to check out, most of them come with descriptions of how I took them, and have the EXIF data showing the settings I used. I'm also very happy to answer any questions you might have!
Not much to add to what Alexis (@abirkill) said. He saved for (almost) last what I was going to mention first: boost your ISO way up for "practice" shots to help you check your focus and composition before lowering it back down for the longer "keeper" shots. And, well, "ditto" pretty much everything else he said... ;-)
Julz, thanks for starting this discussion. I'm in the same position as you, newly experimenting with night shots. Obviously I can't add anything new to help you, but maybe I can keep this going by soliciting a critique of my first star shot. It was a bitterly windy cold night... are my points of light so big because of the wind, the exposure time, or did I maybe not turn off stabilization even though I'd heard that advice in the video *I* watched? ;^) Would the exif tell me? I did have to up the exposure and contrast on this in lightroom together it to pop... And felt like a cheater. Is that normal? Also, when the cloud WASN'T passing, the moon was always a big blob. How do you get a clear moon and stars together? Any advice most welcome. @julz@tryeveryday@abirkill@davidchrtrans
Looks pretty good. A real tough tripod might help as you need the camera very steady. Other than that practice and try lots settings, checking shots as you go.
The series I've been enjoying is Photography 101 on iTunes. Here's the guy's website.... the night photography one was one of the first episodes. http://photooneoone.blogspot.com/@Cheesebiscuit
@squamloon Great first attempt -- star photography is the hardest type of night photography, in my experience.
Realistically, you cannot take a shot of the stars and the moon together. The moon is many thousands of times brighter than the average star, which is too much 'dynamic range' for even the best camera to handle.
If you really wanted to do this, you would have to take two photographs, one of the moon exposed correctly, and one of the stars exposed correctly, and blend them together in post-processing. Even then, this will look unrealistic (in the same way as large, clear moons over city photographs are pretty but don't look quite right).
You are also getting considerable flare and I think reflections -- do you have a UV filter fitted to your lens? If so, it's best to remove this for night photography, as they frequently cause undesirable reflections.
The stars in this shot are so large because you don't have the focus quite correct -- the lens is focused slightly one way or the other from infinity, so your point-like stars are turning into little dots of bokeh! It's quite a cool effect, but if you don't want it to happen, check out my advice on focusing in my previous post above. The moon can be very handy here, as it's a big bright light source at infinity that any camera should have no problem focusing on.
Realistically with most star shots you will need to do some considerable massaging in Lightroom or other post-processing software to get them to look as you want. Your settings for this shot also didn't help -- you were using a very low ISO (200) and a short exposure (20 seconds). The short exposure will freeze the motion of the stars, which is a good thing, but the low ISO setting will very much limit the amount of light from the stars you capture, and force you to bump the exposure a lot in post-processing. Try increasing the ISO to 800, 1600 or even 3200, while keeping a wide aperture. On my star photographs I use between 1600 and 8000 ISO, but that's with a full-frame camera. With the T4i, you should be able to use 1600-3200 ISO though.
Don't be put off by this -- it's a lot to take in, but you've taken a really great photo, especially for your first attempt. Star photography is great fun, and with modern DSLRs, more accessible than ever. If you want to learn more, I wrote a short document going into more detail for my local Meetup group, which you can read here. And if you have any questions, let me know!
@abirkill au contraire, I'm not put off in the least! I concur with Michael - - your advice, and the style in which you deliver it, are EXACTLY what I need in order to learn.
I really love the picture, but it was accidental. And I want it to be on purpose next time. ;^)
The 200 ISO was on the advice if the video... But he was doing illuminated street scenes. I now realize how vastly different astrophotography is from nighttime street shots. Thanks so much for your in-depth reply--and for even going so far as to look at the exif.
@julz If you can I would recommend getting someone shining a light on the stalks so you can get your lens focused. You can also change the white balance to try out different looks.
@squamloon Along with what @abirkill said, I would also say open the aperture as much as possible. You're already at f5.6, but if it's even wider you'll get less flare. And as I said to @julz, mess around with the white balance to get a warmer color
@wanderographer interesting idea. I usually snap on my own but will definitely ask for help if it's there. Will try white balance next time for a different perspective.
@squamloon
Thanks for you sharing your photo. Nice first attempt, too. Appreciate keeping this conversation going. I love learning more and more about skills and tips to improve.
@abirkill Thank you for all your amazing advice. I have much to learn.
@julz Find a friend interested in trying out night photography and get them to help you, they can hold the light while you focus, then you can do the same for them. Plus you can bounce ideas around and get the most out of a night!
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This is a fantastic photo for your first attempt at night photography. You have got the exposure spot on, captured the light trails nicely, and have come up with an interesting composition. Well done!
I would agree there seems to be some blur to this photo, I can't tell from the size available here whether this is due to focus error or due to the tripod slipping. You need a good solid tripod for night photography, as any motion will be picked up. As @tryeveryday mentioned, you will certainly see motion blur in the corn unless it's a dead still night. Finally, remember that if you have a lens with image stabilisation, this *needs* to be switched off for exposures much above 1/3rd of a second, as it will introduce significant blur in longer exposures.
If the camera won't autofocus, using live view is the best way to manually focus -- you can zoom into live view (using the same zoom controls as you use to zoom into a photo you've taken) to view part of the live image in close detail, and adjust the focus manually until it's just right. Although the live view display will be dark, you should still be able to see enough detail to focus somewhere in the image (I've managed to use live view to focus accurately on stars). Don't forget to turn the camera to MF mode so it doesn't adjust your focus once you've got it right.
Remember that all cameras these days have very good high ISO performance. You will get the maximum quality by using a low ISO, as you have done here, but for framing, composition and focus checking, don't be afraid to put the ISO up to 1600 or more -- you can then take shots very quickly and perfect the setup before lowering the ISO for the 'keeper'.
I have lots of night photos in my project that you're welcome to check out, most of them come with descriptions of how I took them, and have the EXIF data showing the settings I used. I'm also very happy to answer any questions you might have!
Realistically, you cannot take a shot of the stars and the moon together. The moon is many thousands of times brighter than the average star, which is too much 'dynamic range' for even the best camera to handle.
If you really wanted to do this, you would have to take two photographs, one of the moon exposed correctly, and one of the stars exposed correctly, and blend them together in post-processing. Even then, this will look unrealistic (in the same way as large, clear moons over city photographs are pretty but don't look quite right).
You are also getting considerable flare and I think reflections -- do you have a UV filter fitted to your lens? If so, it's best to remove this for night photography, as they frequently cause undesirable reflections.
The stars in this shot are so large because you don't have the focus quite correct -- the lens is focused slightly one way or the other from infinity, so your point-like stars are turning into little dots of bokeh! It's quite a cool effect, but if you don't want it to happen, check out my advice on focusing in my previous post above. The moon can be very handy here, as it's a big bright light source at infinity that any camera should have no problem focusing on.
Realistically with most star shots you will need to do some considerable massaging in Lightroom or other post-processing software to get them to look as you want. Your settings for this shot also didn't help -- you were using a very low ISO (200) and a short exposure (20 seconds). The short exposure will freeze the motion of the stars, which is a good thing, but the low ISO setting will very much limit the amount of light from the stars you capture, and force you to bump the exposure a lot in post-processing. Try increasing the ISO to 800, 1600 or even 3200, while keeping a wide aperture. On my star photographs I use between 1600 and 8000 ISO, but that's with a full-frame camera. With the T4i, you should be able to use 1600-3200 ISO though.
Don't be put off by this -- it's a lot to take in, but you've taken a really great photo, especially for your first attempt. Star photography is great fun, and with modern DSLRs, more accessible than ever. If you want to learn more, I wrote a short document going into more detail for my local Meetup group, which you can read here. And if you have any questions, let me know!
I really love the picture, but it was accidental. And I want it to be on purpose next time. ;^)
The 200 ISO was on the advice if the video... But he was doing illuminated street scenes. I now realize how vastly different astrophotography is from nighttime street shots. Thanks so much for your in-depth reply--and for even going so far as to look at the exif.
http://thiskidisnuts.blogspot.com/2013/01/night-photography-101.html
@julz If you can I would recommend getting someone shining a light on the stalks so you can get your lens focused. You can also change the white balance to try out different looks.
@squamloon Along with what @abirkill said, I would also say open the aperture as much as possible. You're already at f5.6, but if it's even wider you'll get less flare. And as I said to @julz, mess around with the white balance to get a warmer color
@wanderographer interesting idea. I usually snap on my own but will definitely ask for help if it's there. Will try white balance next time for a different perspective.
@squamloon
Thanks for you sharing your photo. Nice first attempt, too. Appreciate keeping this conversation going. I love learning more and more about skills and tips to improve.
@abirkill Thank you for all your amazing advice. I have much to learn.