Night Sky Photography: pro secrets for stunning moonlight landscapes

jmeyer | Night | Photography Tips | 07/01/2013 16:00pm

3 Comments

Three ways to get great photos in moonlight

Compose with care
All successful landscape images need a strong composition. Increase the ISO to its highest setting and use Live View to get a clear view of the scene on screen, then return the ISO to a lower setting before taking the shot.

Calculate the exposure
Increase the ISO to a high setting and take a test shot using an aperture of f/5.6. Check the histogram, and if the exposure  is accurate use these settings to work out the exposure for a lower ISO setting – for example, f/5.6 at 4 secs at ISO12800 is the same as f/5.6 at 4 mins at ISO200.

Use Bulb mode
The longest exposure possible using one of the standard modes is 30 seconds, so you’ll need to use Bulb (B) mode instead. This allows exposures of any length to be made using a remote shutter release. Press and hold/lock the remote to keep the shutter open for the desired time.

PAGE 1: Using moonlight in your night sky photography
PAGE 2: Timing your moonlight photography
PAGE 3: Three ways to get great photos in moonlight
PAGE 4: How to photograph the moon
PAGE 5: Essential night sky photography tips to remember