Night Time Pics Tips

[MysticBlueX3]

What is the best way to take night time pictures? I've been trying to take pictures of my angel eyes (headlights off) at night w/o flash and all I see is the car and a blur of white lightfiling up the headlights. This is what I have tried: Using a tripod to minimize movement and increasing shutter speed. I have a cannon S400. Any advice? Thanks guys.

[JCL]

Don't know about that specific camera, but what you want is to get it into a full manual mode, so that you can try different combinations of exposures and apertures. Keep the flash off.

If the camera doesn't have a full manual mode, you basically have to fool it by locking the automatic exposure using another target, then move the camera to aim at the headlights.

The tripod is a good idea.

Sample below was shot with a digital camera, in fully manual mode; I just worked at it until I got it right.

[jaaX3]

Nice pic, what camera/lens combo?

[Nick@Jlevi SW]

Demon Eyes are difficult to capture correctly. You need to play with the ISO and Shutter settings so that the light does not flood the camera.

[motordavid]

JCL: Good to see that lunar pic of yours, again!
OutfookingStanding, imo.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by JCL

Don't know about that specific camera, but what you want is to get it into a full manual mode, so that you can try different combinations of exposures and apertures. Keep the flash off.

If the camera doesn't have a full manual mode, you basically have to fool it by locking the automatic exposure using another target, then move the camera to aim at the headlights.

The tripod is a good idea.

Sample below was shot with a digital camera, in fully manual mode; I just worked at it until I got it right.

OMG god job my Allan does read this site or he would on here all night telling you best way to do astro pics. He does tell me but it a case whosh over my head although I do remember something like the longer the exposure the best some pics it can take him up to two hours for just one pic but not the moon. did you take that photo through a telescope??? looks upside down and back to front

[JCL]

Originally Posted by jaaX3

Nice pic, what camera/lens combo?

Thanks.

Not a simple answer. Non-photography fans may want to tune out here.... This was with my Nikon D70, shot in raw (NEF), with very minor post-processing. Shutter speed was 1/320. No camera lens in this shot, the D70 was mounted directly to a Televue 85 mm (diameter) apochromatic refractor with a T-ring and a Televue adaptor. Some shots are prime focus (no eyepiece) but I typically shoot with eyepiece projection using a variety of Televue Radian and Nagler eyepieces. I am not sure which one I used in that shot. The refractor is a 600 mm F7, pretty good quality. With the eyepiece mounted, it is likely up in the range of an effective 2000 - 8000 mm photographic lens. All this is mounted on a Bogen tripod, no telescope motor drive. You've got to be quick, it stays in the field of vision for less than five or ten seconds.

This setup is completely manual, there is no metering, which is why I used the sample shot in my original response regarding metering issues for night shots. Also, the attachment is under 100 KB, and the original shot was 4.3 MB, so if it looks acceptable at all it is amazing. I use it at full resolution in presentations I do at work, it looks pretty good on a big monitor or an LCD projector.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by motordavid

JCL: Good to see that lunar pic of yours, again!
OutfookingStanding, imo.

Thanks David.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Scottie

OMG good job my Allan doesn't read this site or he would be on here all night telling you best way to do astro pics. He does tell me but it a case whosh over my head although I do remember something like the longer the exposure the best some pics it can take him up to two hours for just one pic but not the moon. did you take that photo through a telescope??? looks upside down and back to front

Good guess. Show it to him and see if he likes it. Long exposures help, true, but then you need a motor drive (GEM) for the telescope mount. I just play around at the moment, and this was actually shot on a photo tripod. Without a proper GEM, I am limited to planets and such, but it seems to be all I have time for anyway. The telescope stays set up in the den for any quick peeks when the sky looks clear (or when a new planet comes into view again). These were shot from our patio, in the city, although we are fairly high up and out of the haze.


Here is another, with a different eyepiece, same night. Again, this is under 100 KB, the original was a huge file.

[Dblock2151]

Originally Posted by BMWERKEN

Demon Eyes are difficult to capture correctly. You need to play with the ISO and Shutter settings so that the light does not flood the camera.

Here are a couple pics of my DDE's..