Metering For Night Sky Help

[JKeena]

Just wondering if there is any rule of thumb for shooting the sky at night. Close down 2 stops? 3 Stops? My camera is gonna meter everything to 18% gray but the night sky I don't want to be grey. I also want to capture the stars and red lights on top of hills. Any suggestions? Thanks -Justin

[paulnj]

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/howtophoto/

no one answer is correct beyond saying ... the moon is lit by reflected light from the sun, so plus a stop(close down one) would be the general rule.

happy mooning

[Speed]

Just wondering if there is any rule of thumb for shooting the sky at night. Close down 2 stops? 3 Stops? My camera is gonna meter everything to 18% gray but the night sky I don't want to be grey. I also want to capture the stars and red lights on top of hills. Any suggestions? Thanks -Justin

Are you shooting the moon? Stars? Landscape with stars? How long are you planning on exposing for? Each of these has a part in the answer you get. It takes a fraction of a second for the moon, several seconds for stars, and several minutes for landscapes.

Give me some more details and I'll give you my thoughts on where to start.

[another view]

A light meter isn't going to help here - it's pretty much trial & error. If you were trying to shoot night time cityscapes, then a spot meter would be handy, but that's about it. Like Speed says, more info and someone here can give you some suggestions. Here's a couple of examples:

If you're shooting moon-lit landscapes (on the day of the full moon, give or take a day, clear skies) then start with ISO 400 film, 8min, f5.6.

If you want star trails, shoot with a new moon (no moon), ISO 400 wide open for as long as you can stay awake (several minutes to a few hours).

No right or wrong answer here with this type of shooting. I usually use Fuji Provia 400F slide film for this.

[JKeena]

A light meter isn't going to help here - it's pretty much trial & error. If you were trying to shoot night time cityscapes, then a spot meter would be handy, but that's about it. Like Speed says, more info and someone here can give you some suggestions. Here's a couple of examples:

If you're shooting moon-lit landscapes (on the day of the full moon, give or take a day, clear skies) then start with ISO 400 film, 8min, f5.6.

If you want star trails, shoot with a new moon (no moon), ISO 400 wide open for as long as you can stay awake (several minutes to a few hours).

No right or wrong answer here with this type of shooting. I usually use Fuji Provia 400F slide film for this.

I want to capture just the very top of the landscape and the stars as well as these tall red light things( about the same brightness as stars) meant to warn planes of the hill top. Having the moon would probably take away from this image so no moon.Also, I'm not trying to get star trails, just clean white stars and red lights scattered about the sky. Hope this helps. Thanks - Justin

[Speed]

I want to capture just the very top of the landscape and the stars as well as these tall red light things( about the same brightness as stars) meant to warn planes of the hill top. Having the moon would probably take away from this image so no moon.Also, I'm not trying to get star trails, just clean white stars and red lights scattered about the sky. Hope this helps. Thanks - Justin

Thanks for the information. Now I know where you need to start.

I always use a tripod for my shots. And a cable release. If you don't have a cable release or electronic remote, use the self timer on your camera. Also, set your camera to manual focus - the autofocus will not work on the night sky, and set your exposure mode to manual as well.

Use a fast lens. The faster the better. My favorite lens for star shots is my 50mm f1.4. I would recommend a lens with an apeture of at least f2.0 or faster if you have one. Above f2.0 the light from stars falls off fast.

Shoot with the lens wide open. I've heard it numerous times that you should stop down at least one or two stops for the sharpest photos. If you've got a good lens, then don't worry about it. Also, the nearest star is 25 Trillion Miles away. That's 25,000,000,000,000 miles. Trust me, everything from that point on will be in focus at f1.4!

Frame your composition, and focus on the stars. If you're having a hard time focusing on them in the viewfinder, then set your lens to the infinity setting. That will give you points of light, instead of blobs.

How long you leave the shutter open will depend on your lens. I can leave my 50mm open for 30 seconds without star trails. A 70mm lens gives trails at 30 seconds, so your limit will be about 20 seconds. With a 24 or 28mm lens, you should be able to keep the shutter open for a full minute without getting trails. You want the longest exposure you can get to record the stars, and the length of your lens will determine how long you can do that without getting trails.

Film choice is up to you. I've shot the stars with 100, 400 and 800 speed print film, and 100 speed slide film. If you want to get the most stars, nebula's, Milky Way, etc, then use 800 speed film. A 30 second exposure will show you more than your eyes can see. Personally, I prefer 400 speed film for star shots. I think it is the best trade off between sensitivity and detail.

Also, if you're out to record the most light you can, like a shot of the Milky Way, then use print film. If you want the sharpest and most colorful stars you can get, then use slide film. I've taken some star shots with Sensia 100 and the colors are incredible. What look like just white stars turns out to be red, blue, yellow and white stars. It is amazing. I can't wait to try some Provia 400. :-)

It is a lot simpler than it sounds. Once you try it, you'll realize that it is easy to impress your friends with your night sky shots. Also, experiment with different settings, times, etc. To prove to myself (and everyone else) that you don't have to stop down to get sharp star shots, I took four exposures of a constellation, all 30 seconds long. The only thing I changed was the apeture. I shot at f1.4, f2.0, f2.8 and f4.0. The shot at f1.4 was as sharp as any of the others. The only difference between the shots was, the wider the apeture was, the more light/stars/nebula's that were recorded.

Hope this helps you get started. Good luck and post some of your shots for us to see!

[JKeena]

Thanks for the information. Now I know where you need to start.

I always use a tripod for my shots. And a cable release. If you don't have a cable release or electronic remote, use the self timer on your camera. Also, set your camera to manual focus - the autofocus will not work on the night sky, and set your exposure mode to manual as well.

Use a fast lens. The faster the better. My favorite lens for star shots is my 50mm f1.4. I would recommend a lens with an apeture of at least f2.0 or faster if you have one. Above f2.0 the light from stars falls off fast.

Shoot with the lens wide open. I've heard it numerous times that you should stop down at least one or two stops for the sharpest photos. If you've got a good lens, then don't worry about it. Also, the nearest star is 25 Trillion Miles away. That's 25,000,000,000,000 miles. Trust me, everything from that point on will be in focus at f1.4!

Frame your composition, and focus on the stars. If you're having a hard time focusing on them in the viewfinder, then set your lens to the infinity setting. That will give you points of light, instead of blobs.

How long you leave the shutter open will depend on your lens. I can leave my 50mm open for 30 seconds without star trails. A 70mm lens gives trails at 30 seconds, so your limit will be about 20 seconds. With a 24 or 28mm lens, you should be able to keep the shutter open for a full minute without getting trails. You want the longest exposure you can get to record the stars, and the length of your lens will determine how long you can do that without getting trails.

Film choice is up to you. I've shot the stars with 100, 400 and 800 speed print film, and 100 speed slide film. If you want to get the most stars, nebula's, Milky Way, etc, then use 800 speed film. A 30 second exposure will show you more than your eyes can see. Personally, I prefer 400 speed film for star shots. I think it is the best trade off between sensitivity and detail.

Also, if you're out to record the most light you can, like a shot of the Milky Way, then use print film. If you want the sharpest and most colorful stars you can get, then use slide film. I've taken some star shots with Sensia 100 and the colors are incredible. What look like just white stars turns out to be red, blue, yellow and white stars. It is amazing. I can't wait to try some Provia 400. :-)

It is a lot simpler than it sounds. Once you try it, you'll realize that it is easy to impress your friends with your night sky shots. Also, experiment with different settings, times, etc. To prove to myself (and everyone else) that you don't have to stop down to get sharp star shots, I took four exposures of a constellation, all 30 seconds long. The only thing I changed was the apeture. I shot at f1.4, f2.0, f2.8 and f4.0. The shot at f1.4 was as sharp as any of the others. The only difference between the shots was, the wider the apeture was, the more light/stars/nebula's that were recorded.

Hope this helps you get started. Good luck and post some of your shots for us to see!

Thanks alot for the detailed help! My lenses aren't that fast but I'll try to get my hands on one for this shot as well as try with my 20mm f3.5. Fingers crossed this all goes well. If I get anything i'll post it up. Thanks again for the help! -Justin