Pictures of the Stars and Moon?

Hello

Im not sure if this should be in this section, so sorry about that.

I really want to take pictures of the sky at night, I was wondering what I would need. I have a Regular (non digital SLR) and a collection of lenses including one 500x. What settings do people suggest? Of course as its not digital I won't be able to see the pics before development and I want to maximise my chances of getting good pics.

Thanks

jpmwright wrote in
:


Hello

Im not sure if this should be in this section, so sorry about that.

I really want to take pictures of the sky at night, I was wondering
what I would need. I have a Regular (non digital SLR) and a collection
of lenses including one 500x. What settings do people suggest? Of
course as its not digital I won't be able to see the pics before
development and I want to maximise my chances of getting good pics.

Must-have accessories are a tripod, preferably a good firm one, and a
cable or remote release with locking option. These are intended to keep the
camera rock-steady while the shutter is locked open for a long exposure.
It's also fairly important to have a camera with a "B" shutter setting,
which allows the shutter to stay open as long as the release is depressed.

Beyond that, not much else, but bear in mind the subject you gave
actully encompasses qute a few different techniques.

Unless you're simply looking for the moon as an accent to a scene,
any focal length less than 500mm is liable to make it too small in the
frame to be useful. 1000mm comes close to using much of a 35mm film frame.
And if you're trying to see planets, galaxies, or nebulas, you won't see
anything without using a camera-mount on a telescope.

Some people find that using the "Sunny-16" rule for the moon works,
since the moon is lit by direct and unobscured sunlight - I find I prefer
f11 instead of f16. To be more specific, set the camera at f11, and your
shutter speed should be 1/ISO. If you're using ISO 100 film, your shutter
speed should be 1/100. For ISO 200, shutter 1/200, and so on.

Do a websearch on moon photography, you'll find plenty of pointers.
Remember that this applies for a full moon well up in the sky on a clear
night. Near the horizon or with high humidity, the exposure times can
change.

Also remember that the moon moves its own width in the sky in 150
seconds (really!). Use this to your advantage.

As for stars, this is a different matter. They're much dimmer and
require long exposures to bring them out on film at all. The problem is,
past a certain point their movement becomes apparent (and you may want
this), so they appear as short lines or long streaks. And getting a
detailed moon, as well as some stars, in the same image is nearly
impossible - the light is so drastically different that you will either
lose the stars, or blow the moon out into a featureless bright hazy blob.

Exposure? Really hard to pin down. I've had good luck with 45 seconds
at f5.6 to actually get star definition, usually only the brightest stars
though. Longer than that and you're likely to produce trails. This will
depend on your focal length and the area of the sky you aim at.

Think of it this way: the wider the focal length, the lower the
distance the stars move across your film frame, so you can get by with
longer exposures. With a high magnification telephoto lens, the movement
becomes very apparent.

Also, the rotation of the earth imparts the apparent movement. Aim
towards the nearest pole (point north if you're in the northern
hemisphere), and the stars describe a tight circle around the polar point
(North Star, or Southern Cross in the southern hemisphere). Aim anywhere in
the arc that extends east-to-west, and the stars have the greatest trails
in the same amount of time. This is exactly the same as looking out the
front windshield of a moving car, then out the side window.

Always try to get as far away from city lights as possible. The glow
will show up distinctly on film, and often with a color cast that's
hideous.

Experiment freely with exposure times and films. Some work very well
for long night exposures, some are absolutely terrible. Slide films seem to
render the night sky much better than print films, much less grain.

Two useful links: http://www.40-below.com/sunmoon/index.html can give
you a whole range of times for moon rise and set, as well as phases. And
http://www.heavens-above.com/ is a great resource for celestial events.
Don't let registration spook you - they don't require any personal info.

Keep poking around on the web, good luck, and have fun!


- Al.

--
To reply, insert dash in address to match domain below
Online photo gallery at www.wading-in.net

Al Denelsbeck wrote:

jpmwright wrote in
:


Hello

Im not sure if this should be in this section, so sorry about that.

I really want to take pictures of the sky at night, I was wondering
what I would need. I have a Regular (non digital SLR) and a collection
of lenses including one 500x. What settings do people suggest? Of
course as its not digital I won't be able to see the pics before
development and I want to maximise my chances of getting good pics.




Some people find that using the "Sunny-16" rule for the moon works,
since the moon is lit by direct and unobscured sunlight - I find I prefer
f11 instead of f16. To be more specific, set the camera at f11, and your
shutter speed should be 1/ISO. If you're using ISO 100 film, your shutter
speed should be 1/100. For ISO 200, shutter 1/200, and so on.


F/11 would be a correct implementation of the "Sunny-16" rule for
shooting the moon. "Sunny-16" applies to an "average" subject. The moon
isn't.

F/16 & 1/ISO makes the moon look 18% gray (B&W film - kind of a dim
orange with color film). Open up at least one stop to make it white,
i.e. f/11. F/8 might work better still.

For most cameras, with ISO 100 film you're going to shoot 1/125th sec
shutter speed at f/11 (or f/8 ... or try both); ISO 200, 1/250th, etc.

For the moon, I wouldn't shoot much slower than 1/60th sec, because the
moon actually moves & with a slow shutter speed you get a little
blurring around the edges.

Thanks theres some great advice here, Ive just got to wait for a clear night now, today looks good though as its a frosty morning and a clodless sky, hopefully it will last.

Depends on what you tend to do/compose. I tend to experiemnt with long
shutter times. And of course a tripod and a cable release are a must.