Night Photos under Moonlight

[Toddyh]

I was camping last week on a very bright full moon night. I was trying to get some photos of the car, swag, river with a backdrop of a night sky. Trouble was the moon was so bright the night sky didn't look much like night at all.





Any tips to get better shots in this sort of situation? Or is it simply a case of a bright moon means no stars.

[loose cannon]

Car/swag are in shade so forget full moon and go for no moon. Full moon = no stars (or not many) anyway.

No moon puts you in control of the light. Most important.

Do a long exposure (maybe 20 seconds or so) in total darkness and light the scene with a torch keeping in mind the car is white and obviously will need less light than the swag. Just a few seconds here with the torch, no more! Experiment, it's fun. Wiggle the torch to avoid hard lines.

Fast glass will get you a few stars in the frame with a long exposure but if the stars appear streaky then you need to shorten exposure time.

Fast glass simply means the maximum aperture is about f/2.8 or better. A lens with an aperture of f/4 or even worse f5.6 will make your task harder and harder. (f/4 is kinda ok but f/5.6 will break your heart)

You can only have the shutter open for so long before the stars start to appear as lines rather than dots so need a wide aperture to let in as much light as possible. If your not too bothered about having a lot of stars then even a f/5.6 will be ok really.

Google is your friend, try something like "600 rule for night sky photography" or something similar and you will find a wealth of info on the relationship between the focal length of the lens, aperture and shutter speed.

It's not rocket science and will give you an understanding of the things you need to think about when setting up for a shot like this. Others will explain it much better than I.

Keep in mind that the 600 rule (sometimes referred to as the 500 rule) is never more than a rough guide. A little bit of streakiness really doesn't matter that much

Too many trees in that spot for my liking for a night sky shot, open ground would be better but hey, just go with what you've got.

One important tip: When you look at the cameras lcd screen at night the image will always look brighter than when viewed in daylight so if you think you've nailed the shot and all is looking sweet it probably means you need to capture one more slightly brighter frame. I've been caught out many many times by ignoring this point.

[Toddyh]

Thanks for the reply. The torch for a few seconds thing is something I will definitely try.
For these pics I was aiming to capture the scene and the night sky was just meant to be a backdrop. I was obviously struggling with the moonlight being so bright and casting shadows/ruining the stars.
My LCD screen on the camera is crap. But it's got wifi so I can transfer to my phone instantly which has a much better screen.
I've some OK night photos in the past but the moonlight really threw me here. I think lowering the exposure time and using the torch would have got me much better results. Thanks again.

Here's one where I actually succeeded. The Andes in Peru.

[Phoenix]

Clarity of those stars is amazing. Obviously a clean atmosphere and being a long way from city lights helped.

[Toddyh]

I think also being 4000m closer to the stars may have helped too. I've never seen a night sky like what is in the Andes anywhere else. Even the desert.

[Phoenix]

You are a lucky traveler Toddy. Wish my old man wanted to go further afield than the backyard.

[Toddyh]

Had another go over the weekend. Better results I think.

[Phoenix]

Yes definitely better. The sky's colours are looking nice and natural and the stars are sharper. What did you do differently Toddy?

[Toddyh]

I used Mick's tip of shining the torch on the car in the foreground. It was only a fraction of a second required.