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07/10/2007 09:43:09 AM · #1 |
OK...so I put my outside at night, long shutter speeds trying to get the stars in the sky. I get these green dots or smudges instead. So how does one capture good stars in the sky and the moon on a clear night?
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07/10/2007 09:49:24 AM · #2 |
Capturing stars in the city, with that much light pollution, is probably impossible. You'll need to go out into the country somewhere with little or no light. At that point, it's a matter of deciding if you want poinpoint stars or trailed stars, and adjusting F/stop and shutterspeed to allow for one or the other. (Stars start to show trailing due to the Earth's motion after as little as 30 sec with a wide-angle lens, and after only a few seconds with a telephoto.)
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07/10/2007 10:15:20 AM · #3 |
| So it's basically the city lights that are messing the stars up? |
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07/10/2007 10:18:11 AM · #4 |
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07/10/2007 10:34:11 AM · #5 |
You can capture images of stars with a digital camera despite moderate light pollution, although they don't look that great I've done it often and here are some examples:
Planet Gathering
Looks like your city in Japan is a bit brighter than Schenectady, though :-)
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07/10/2007 10:36:32 AM · #6 |
By some odd lucky miracle, I actually captured this over NYC:
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07/10/2007 11:30:36 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by cgino:
You can capture images of stars with a digital camera despite moderate light pollution, although they don't look that great I've done it often and here are some examples:
Planet Gathering
Looks like your city in Japan is a bit brighter than Schenectady, though :-) |
Yes, Japan is not ALWAYS bright...neon signs everywhere 24/7. It takes hours to get to a spot where there's little to no light. |
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07/10/2007 12:12:34 PM · #8 |
Without some trickery, it's difficult to capture stars and the moon without overexposing the moon.
To shoot the moon, think sunlit beach, not night. It's a very bright object. For example, this is 1/160s at ISO 50 and F/5.6:
Even when it's not full, it can be bright. This is the moon with Venus (which is also very bright) at 1/4s, ISO 50, F/8.0:
When I go outside to shoot the moon, I usually start around ISO 50 or 100, 1/100s, and F/4, then adjust after a test shot to account for the moon's phase changing its brightness, haze, etc.
Whereas stars are difficult to capture in exposures shorter than, say, 5s.
The same problem occurs with buildings, which is why the moon is blown out here:
but looks good in this composite:
By the way, I get sharper, more interesting results not at the full moon, particularly with crater edges, because the light is raking across the surface instead of hitting straight on.
Message edited by author 2007-07-10 12:16:32.
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07/10/2007 12:30:47 PM · #9 |
  these were from my front yard with city lights all over through a 80mm spotting scope at 20x with a Coolpix990
 this one was same as above with some over exposeure. I wanted some glow. Also through spotting scope |
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