Night Photo Settings ?

Hi folks,
Just a quick question on camera settings for a newbie
I've got a Fuji s5000 and an s7000 and I'm into night photos.
Dusk and total dark shots are no problem with long exposures
and large apps but I can't nail a good moon shot.
I live in Broome,Australia where we have an amazing thing called
"Staircase to the Moon" where on a big tide the moon,as it rises
shines a beam of light right across the wet mudflats which creates
the illusion of a stairway leading up into the sky.
Here's an example:

http://www.broomewa.com/cam/StaircasetotheMoon.htm

Now what's the secret here ? Because the moon is so bright
do I use long exposure and small apps or short exposure and
large apps ? Nothing seems to be working for me.My goal is
a good,clean well defined shot with no "big overexposed blob"
in the mddle.Is that too technical for ya? :-)

ISO settings range from 200 -400
White balance is fully adjustable
I'm shooting in RAW.
and YES I'm using a tripod.

Thanks for any advise..

Regards, Geoff

On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 11:40:23 +0800, "Geoff Udy"
wrote:

Hi folks,
Just a quick question on camera settings for a newbie
I've got a Fuji s5000 and an s7000 and I'm into night photos.
Dusk and total dark shots are no problem with long exposures
and large apps but I can't nail a good moon shot.
I live in Broome,Australia where we have an amazing thing called
"Staircase to the Moon" where on a big tide the moon,as it rises
shines a beam of light right across the wet mudflats which creates
the illusion of a stairway leading up into the sky.
Here's an example:

http://www.broomewa.com/cam/StaircasetotheMoon.htm

Now what's the secret here ? Because the moon is so bright
do I use long exposure and small apps or short exposure and
large apps ? Nothing seems to be working for me.My goal is
a good,clean well defined shot with no "big overexposed blob"
in the mddle.Is that too technical for ya? :-)

ISO settings range from 200 -400
White balance is fully adjustable
I'm shooting in RAW.
and YES I'm using a tripod.


Because of the huge dynamic range difference between the light from
the full moon and the reflections off the mud flats, the photos were
made either by:

1- using a graduated or step neutral density filter

2--combining two images, one exposed for the moon and one for the mud
flats.

My guess would be the second method

jpc

In article
,
"Geoff Udy" wrote:

Hi folks,
Just a quick question on camera settings for a newbie
I've got a Fuji s5000 and an s7000 and I'm into night photos.
Dusk and total dark shots are no problem with long exposures
and large apps but I can't nail a good moon shot.
I live in Broome,Australia where we have an amazing thing called
"Staircase to the Moon" where on a big tide the moon,as it rises
shines a beam of light right across the wet mudflats which creates
the illusion of a stairway leading up into the sky.
Here's an example:

http://www.broomewa.com/cam/StaircasetotheMoon.htm

Now what's the secret here ? Because the moon is so bright
do I use long exposure and small apps or short exposure and
large apps ? Nothing seems to be working for me.My goal is
a good,clean well defined shot with no "big overexposed blob"
in the mddle.Is that too technical for ya? :-)

ISO settings range from 200 -400
White balance is fully adjustable
I'm shooting in RAW.
and YES I'm using a tripod.

Thanks for any advise..

Regards, Geoff

Take the photo when the moon is in the right position at sunset, if
that's possible. You'll have less of a contrast problem. Open the
aperture all the way and experiment with the shutter time. Whether it's
2s or 1/1000s depends on how clear the sky is.

In article
,
"Geoff Udy" wrote:

Hi folks,
Just a quick question on camera settings for a newbie
I've got a Fuji s5000 and an s7000 and I'm into night photos.
Dusk and total dark shots are no problem with long exposures
and large apps but I can't nail a good moon shot.
I live in Broome,Australia where we have an amazing thing called
"Staircase to the Moon" where on a big tide the moon,as it rises
shines a beam of light right across the wet mudflats which creates
the illusion of a stairway leading up into the sky.
Here's an example:

http://www.broomewa.com/cam/StaircasetotheMoon.htm

Now what's the secret here ? Because the moon is so bright
do I use long exposure and small apps or short exposure and
large apps ? Nothing seems to be working for me.My goal is
a good,clean well defined shot with no "big overexposed blob"
in the mddle.Is that too technical for ya? :-)

ISO settings range from 200 -400
White balance is fully adjustable
I'm shooting in RAW.
and YES I'm using a tripod.

Thanks for any advise..

Regards, Geoff

Take the photo when the moon is in the right position at sunset, if
that's possible. You'll have less of a contrast problem. Open the
aperture all the way and experiment with the shutter time. Whether it's
2s or 1/1000s depends on how clear the sky is.

In article
,
"Geoff Udy" wrote:

Hi folks,
Just a quick question on camera settings for a newbie
I've got a Fuji s5000 and an s7000 and I'm into night photos.
Dusk and total dark shots are no problem with long exposures
and large apps but I can't nail a good moon shot.
I live in Broome,Australia where we have an amazing thing called
"Staircase to the Moon" where on a big tide the moon,as it rises
shines a beam of light right across the wet mudflats which creates
the illusion of a stairway leading up into the sky.
Here's an example:

http://www.broomewa.com/cam/StaircasetotheMoon.htm

Now what's the secret here ? Because the moon is so bright
do I use long exposure and small apps or short exposure and
large apps ? Nothing seems to be working for me.My goal is
a good,clean well defined shot with no "big overexposed blob"
in the mddle.Is that too technical for ya? :-)

ISO settings range from 200 -400
White balance is fully adjustable
I'm shooting in RAW.
and YES I'm using a tripod.

Thanks for any advise..

Regards, Geoff

Take the photo when the moon is in the right position at sunset, if
that's possible. You'll have less of a contrast problem. Open the
aperture all the way and experiment with the shutter time. Whether it's
2s or 1/1000s depends on how clear the sky is.

Thanks for the replies folks,

I'll try your ideas and won't stop till I get it right !

Thanks again,

Geoff

Thanks for the replies folks,

I'll try your ideas and won't stop till I get it right !

Thanks again,

Geoff