Night shot with light painting help....

[NancyMoranG]

It's been a couple of years since I have been much of a contributor since the death of our son.
Got out the camera the other night and ventured out.
Nikon D7000, 11-16 Tokina, good tripod and headlamp.
Totally forgot most of what I had learned way back. (And not that I was that good anyway!)
Had ISO 640-1000, F8-11, and 15 to 30 seconds.
E-gads!!

Going again and will use F2.8, higher ISO. I really wanted MORE stars!! (They are barely visible)
I am at Borrego Springs, Ca and it is a dark sky location. Lots of sculptures.
Any help ...totally need it.
Nancy

 

[Derrel]

Good notes about exposure, ISO, etc. are really valuable. you can pencil and paper out alernate f/stop exposure times. Back in the mid-1980s I did a lot of nighttime light painting using ISO 64 Kodachrome, and one of my tips that I learned was to estimate exposures and light painting with every shot done at f8. If you stick to f/8, then you have a basis of experience. F 2.8 would probably be too wide an aperture for scenes which have near and far items of Interest such as the one you shot above. At f/11 your exposure time would be doubled compared to F / 8.

 

[NancyMoranG]

Thank you Derrel. I am mistaking the wide F stop when doing stars with not using it with a foreground object?