Shooting the Stars

[Zoorah12]

Link to photograph

^ See that shot right there? That was taken by one of my favorite photographers, Jimmy Chin. I wouldn't say that I'm a complete amatuer when it comes to photography, however, nothing I seem to do allows me to achieve a shot like this one. I have messed with the ISO and the F Stop on my camera while shooting at night, but I can't seem to get the shot that I want. I've just started to experiment with night shooting lately so I haven't perfected my technique. I was wondering if anybody could give me a lowdown on how a shot like this can be attained. Cheers!



OP: Per TPF rules, I have replaced the image in your post with a link since it is not your own.

 

[tirediron]

I'm guessing that's a composite of three different exposures.

 

[480sparky41 40]

Link to photograph

...................

OP: Per TPF rules, I have replaced the image in your post with a link since it is not your own.

But....... link no workee.

 

[MK3Brent]

Guh... fix link please.

 

[Zoorah12]

hmm the link works for me when I click it. Let me try it again...

http://images.nationalgeographic.co...he/tapovan-night-jimmy-chin_49203_600x450.jpg

 

[480sparky41 40]

I'd say it's a composite too.

 

[Zoorah12]

can anyone explain?

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Oh easy, Just figure out ambient exposure for the landscape and pop speedlights in the foreground. Pop one inside each of the tents and another on the person during the exposure. It's not a composite.

 

[MK3Brent]

And a bright moon to reflect light on your mountains.

 

[Zoorah12]

Oh cool. And to capture the stars like that, how would you set up your camera?

 

[MK3Brent]

widest aperture or sharpest aperture... play around with it., lowest ISO, and bulb.

You want to time this correctly.
Too long, and your stars will trail. (Which is why I usually shoot them wide open.)

 

[rexbobcat]

widest aperture or sharpest aperture... play around with it., lowest ISO, and bulb.

You want to time this correctly.
Too long, and your stars will trail. (Which is why I usually shoot them wide open.)

Actually, using a higher ISO for pinpoint stars is more effective. I had a photo of the milky way and to get proper exposure without streaks I had to use an ISO of 1600 in pitch darkness at 35mm and f/1.4.

The longer your focal length, the shorter your times have to be as well.

 

[MK3Brent]

widest aperture or sharpest aperture... play around with it., lowest ISO, and bulb.

You want to time this correctly.
Too long, and your stars will trail. (Which is why I usually shoot them wide open.)

Actually, using a higher ISO for pinpoint stars is more effective.

Doing that will also help you speed up the shutter. Just watch for noise.(my little D200 will grain up quickly.) Sometimes very difficult to see/review while out shooting in the darkness with your LCD monitor as your only review tool.

Here's one I shot at f/4 30s ISO 100.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6799197747_a9d62fa7cb_b.jpg

Experiment and see what looks good.

 

[rexbobcat]

Doing that will also help you speed up the shutter. Just watch for noise.(my little D200 will grain up quickly.) Sometimes very difficult to see/review while out shooting in the darkness with your LCD monitor as your only review tool.

True. My 1D doesn't have long exposure NR and the high ISO NR is poor. I had to do some major PP to get it presentable. Some cameras are just better equipped for it than others

 

[tirediron]

The tents could (and likely were) lit with speedlights, BUT, I don't buy for a minute that the moon could be bright enough to illuminate the mountains that way and still allow the photographer to capture the stars that well. Still votin' composite!