Night, Tree, Stars, Flash - Help

[runnah]

Thoughts?



Getting frustrated with my long exposures. Can't seem to get them as sharp as I'd like. What am I doing wrong?

User error? Camera/lens limitations?

d300
nikkor 10-24 @10mm
iso2500
f/5
30 seconds
OCF at 1/64

p.s. this is what passes for a scenic vista in my area.

 

[o hey tyler]

Thoughts?

View attachment 35629

Getting frustrated with my long exposures. Can't seem to get them as sharp as I'd like. What am I doing wrong?

User error? Camera/lens limitations?

d300
nikkor 10-24 @10mm
iso2500
f/5
30 seconds
OCF at 1/64

p.s. this is what passes for a scenic vista in my area.

I would venture to guess that your ISO heavily contributed to the softness of the image. You could try f/4, 30s at ISO1600 to see if that works better. What else are you working with for glass? Anything a bit faster than f/3.5 as a max aperture? Also, was there any wind? I'm kinda figuring there was at least a light wind, which may have added to the softness of the tree as the incidental light from the night sky might have exposed it enough to see a bit of subject movement.

 

[runnah]

That's as large as the aperture goes. Any lower ISO and its just black. I tried some at smaller apertures and even at 30 I could get enough light.

I am sure it was windy but not bad. I do have 35mm 1.8 but didn't really want use it because of the narrow field of view.


I always seem to have softness issues with that lens even in daylight.

 

[412 Burgh]

Go to bulb mode! Crank that iso way down to 100! Bulb mode FTW

 

[runnah]

I don't have a remote trigger

 

[412 Burgh]

Time to get one! best $20 dollars I ever spent on camera equipment

 

[sean7488]

well it's a matter of if you want to get star trails or capture stars themselves. A shutter speed longer than 30/s will give you star trails.

 

[o hey tyler]

Another thing I meant to ask, how many flash pulses contributed to the exposure?

 

[runnah]

Just the one, roughly 20 seconds in.

 

[sean7488]

I would try some gels to make the light more natural

 

[runnah]

Sean, I a just looking to get nice crisp stars. I will try some gels.

 

[Edsport]

Remotes - remote d300 | eBay

 

[jamesbjenkins]

Go to bulb mode! Crank that iso way down to 100! Bulb mode FTW

This is exactly what I was going to type. Pony up the $20 for a cheap trigger. You won't regret it for a second.

 

[IceCanAm]

Like all other above have said a remote shutter is a must. now what i would do different if i were shooting this picture is i would skip using the flash. instead i would use my cellphone torch or a led light to draw the tree in while capturing on a bulp mode for about 40 seconds. or you could bump up the iso and shoot at shorter time 20- 25 perhaps.

 

[KenC]

At 30 seconds of exposure, there's no such thing as "windy but not bad" - any movement will be picked up in the exposure, unless the flash completely overwhelms the ambient light, which doesn't appear to be true because you've recorded light from outside the flash range.