Night Sky Shot with Nikon D3300

[mkblgr]

I have a Nikon D3300 with a 18-55mm non-vr lense that came with it. I'm trying to take shots of the nights sky and stars no matter what iso I put it on I cant get it right. 800,1600,3200 and 12,000 all make it far to bright I know I'm doing something else wrong with another setting some where on it. Can any one tell me or link me to a video or set of instructions for my specific camera and lense that shows me exactly what settings to use?

 

[goooner]

It would help if you post a sample of the picture. Are you using a tripod?

 

[mkblgr]

It would help if you post a sample of the picture. Are you using a tripod?

Thanks for the quick response. Yes using a tripod. Have the shutter speed set to 30 secs have the aperture set to the lowest I think it was like 3 or 3.5 I think it might be a problem with my focus because I read it has to be on infinity focus but dont think thats possible with this lense. I put focus on manual and manually focused it before taking shot. Sorry if I sound like a noob this is my first dslr and literally first time using it lol.

 

[PropilotBW]

You shouldn't need ISO 12,000. You will end up with some pretty undesirable shots.
Try shooting at ISO 100 and play with your shutter speed. Try 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds...

 

[sparelink]

What are you trying to accomplish? Are you wanting a pictures of stars? Drop your Iso down to 100 and use a longer shutter. Might have to use bulb mode.

A lot of these pictures don't look like it was completely dark out. Wait until it's darker or use a shorter shutter speed if there is any light.

 

[dennybeall]

OK, first put the camera in AUTO. That will let the camera set the speed, f-stop and ISO to appropriate values to take the photo. You need to spend some time and learn about how to set the correct exposure. That's done with shutter speed, f-stop and ISO settings that are appropriate for the amount of light and the capture you want.
The key is that ALL the factors work together for exposure. Focus is another factor all together. While f-stop does effect the depth of the focus it does not effect the overall focus of the shot.

 

[mkblgr]

By the way I'm looking to get shots like this:

Please don't images to which you do not hold rights. You may post a link.

 

[PropilotBW]

OK, first put the camera in AUTO. That will let the camera set the speed, f-stop and ISO to appropriate values to take the photo. You need to spend some time and learn about how to set the correct exposure. That's done with shutter speed, f-stop and ISO settings that are appropriate for the amount of light and the capture you want.
The key is that ALL the factors work together for exposure. Focus is another factor all together. While f-stop does effect the depth of the focus it does not effect the overall focus of the shot.

Sorry, I'm going to have to disagree with Auto mode. You can use Auto all you want, but that auto flash is going to pop up and try to properly compensate. It's really not the right mode for this.
You will want MANUAL mode. Without manual mode, you won't be able to get into Bulb shutter speed on that Nikon 3300.
Use Manual mode, open your aperture to the maximum allowable on the lens, scroll the shutter speed lower and lower as desired, experimenting slo the way. Scrolling slower than 30 seconds should take you to some bulb shutter speed settings. Bulb means, however long you hold the button, the shutter stays open. That could be 2 seconds, or it could be 15 minutes!

 

[sw_]

OK, first put the camera in AUTO. That will let the camera set the speed, f-stop and ISO to appropriate values to take the photo. You need to spend some time and learn about how to set the correct exposure. That's done with shutter speed, f-stop and ISO settings that are appropriate for the amount of light and the capture you want.
The key is that ALL the factors work together for exposure. Focus is another factor all together. While f-stop does effect the depth of the focus it does not effect the overall focus of the shot.

Sorry, I'm going to have to disagree with Auto mode. You can use Auto all you want, but that auto flash is going to pop up and try to properly compensate. It's really not the right mode for this.
You will want MANUAL mode. Without manual mode, you won't be able to get into Bulb shutter speed on that Nikon 3300.
Use Manual mode, open your aperture to the maximum allowable on the lens, scroll the shutter speed lower and lower as desired, experimenting slo the way. Scrolling slower than 30 seconds should take you to some bulb shutter speed settings. Bulb means, however long you hold the button, the shutter stays open. That could be 2 seconds, or it could be 15 minutes!

What he said.

I shoot a lot at night with that same setup. You can focus to infinity with the kit lense but it isn't exactly easy. I like to set the dial to M, set your focal length to 18mm, open your FStop to 3.5 (it'll be 4 if your around 24mm) find a bright object over a 100 feet away and let the camera focus on that. When it has focus, reach around flip the M/A switch on the left side of your lense to M. This will keep the focus pretty close to infinity. Point it at the sky, zoom in on a bright star (planet) using live mode and make sure it's a solid point of light (less blurry) of it is blurry you can turn the lense ring to bring it into better focus. Put your shutter speed on 15 seconds, use the 2 second delay shutter for less chance of shaking the camera when you press the shutter if you don't have a remote.

Start at ISO 800 and work up from there. If it's clear tonight where you are it'll be a good night with the small moon adding light to the sky.

 

[Peeb]

Attached image used the following:
Manual Mode
ISO 1600
30 seconds
f/2.8
16mm Tokina lens

The wider the better, as the stars will begin to develop trails as your focal length grows.
Using Manual, just start at 1600 ISO, aperature wide open, then try a 30 second exposure to see what you get.
Too bright, back down to 25 seconds. Still too bright? Try 20, etc.

After you capture the image, it's time to pull out the star detail in post.

 

[table1349]

Location, location, location. Same as in buying real estate. From the looks of the surroundings you are in a populated area. Populated area = light pollution.

How to find dark sky.

Map

Find a Dark Sky Place

Light pollution map

Good resources on how to:
How-To: Shoot Epic Landscape Photos Of the Night Sky

How To Photograph The Night Sky

Photographing the Night Sky from Nikon

 

[dennybeall]

The point being this individual does not know anything about photography but is willing and able to learn. Providing specific instructions that will not be understood until more knowledge is gained by the OP is futile and may be frustrating.

 

[sw_]

The point being this individual does not know anything about photography but is willing and able to learn. Providing specific instructions that will not be understood until more knowledge is gained by the OP is futile and may be frustrating.

Yes, but he/she did ask for settings that would help. Auto will get him on the map of he understands what the settings are. Giving him specific settings will get him in the area code quicker and allow the user to adjust and experiment much easier. Auto will crank up the iso, for example I tried a dark shot on a 3200 Auto, 3.5, 20 seconds, auto iso at rock concert noise level.

Either way, hopefully he was able to get some better shots.

 

[fmw]

OK, first put the camera in AUTO. That will let the camera set the speed, f-stop and ISO to appropriate values to take the photo. You need to spend some time and learn about how to set the correct exposure. That's done with shutter speed, f-stop and ISO settings that are appropriate for the amount of light and the capture you want.
The key is that ALL the factors work together for exposure. Focus is another factor all together. While f-stop does effect the depth of the focus it does not effect the overall focus of the shot.

That is what caused the over exposures he posted. The meter tries to expose to an average 18% gray. The last thing you want is AUTO.

 

[epeddy1]

By the way I'm looking to get shots like this:

Please don't images to which you do not hold rights. You may post a link.

Could you repost the link to your desired photos? That is key to answering your question. Many sky images aren't as easy as they seem. I won't go into too many details because I don't know exactly what you're after, but some night sky techniques include using software to "stack" multiple exposures, using a tripod that tracks the sky to avoid star trails, using layers to get a properly exposed foreground (like when you see a nice landscape with the Milky Way above, the landscape was typically exposed differently than the sky and then combined in software), and also some tricks in software like Photoshop to bring out the lights and colors you desire (curves). The best night sky photos use all of the above.

Also keep in mind that while people are suggesting different exposures, it also depends on how wide your field of view is. And I'm not talking about getting a proper exposure, but avoiding blurry stars caused by the Earth's rotation. Obviously a wider field of view is more forgiving of long exposures, but even that will have limits. If you need longer exposures but are experiencing blurry stars, you'll have to resort to the tracking tripod or stacking method mentioned above.

Also as mentioned earlier, light pollution is the enemy. This is why you usually see pretty Milky Way photos with natural landscape in the foreground, not skylines.