Base Night Exposure Starting Point Needed

[BostonBrother]

Would anybody have a starting point exposure for shooting at night? For instance shooting 100 iso at f8 = this long of an exposure when shooting under a full moon.

Also, if you could let me know if you are factoring in any sort of reciprocity failure factor as well that would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[astrostu]

You say "at night" but then you mention the full moon. Are you shooting the moon or are you photographing a night scene that happens to be lit by the full moon?

If the former, check out Wikipedia's article on Exposure Value. It gives you an idea of what EV to use for various scenes, and it provides a table that gives you an exposure length, given an f/number, for an EV.

 

[BostonBrother]

good point, what I meant by that was shooting under a full moon, not shooting a full moon. Oh also, that link to wikipedia was very helpful, thanks.

 

[McManniss]

IF you have a chance, buy The Complete Guide to Night & Low Light Photography by Lee Frost.

Excellent book and it really helps with Nighttime exposures. Sure helped me a lot. Has lots of good info.

 

[Scott7117]

I've read that when you're taking longer exposure shots, where more light is needed it's not worth it to set the aperture to its lowest setting. Sure, the exposure will be short, but it sacrifices clarity and sharpness. Set the aperture to a tighter setting maybe something like f/8 and keep the shutter open longer. You will have a cleaner, crisper image. As for the exposure I'd say experiment, I'm not the best with night shots but the best way to become a better photographer is to try different things. I can say that you'd be surprised by the amount of light a full moon gives off, so plan accordingly.

Good luck.