 Choo Choo Love |
How to shoot action shots at night with moon? I think I finally learned to take action shots (goose flights) at sunset with my Tamron 28-300mm lens and my Canon digital Rebel XT. I'm attaching one of my sunset action shots. I took it with an ISO of 1600 and on Program mode. I notice that the image comes out dark when I use a high shutter speed (1/1000) on shutter priority mode. However, when the sun completely goes down and the moon comes out, I can't seem to get any photos with this camera. I tried using flash and it crackled. I increased the shutter speed and it wouldn't focus. The geese were flying across the moon and I couldn't get a photo! I can't even take a still photo at night, much less an action photo! HELP! Please comment on my sunset goose flight photo, too. All comments and thoughts on it and how to take night time goose flight photos appreciated. Thanks! Choo
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Samuel Smith |
very nice photo choo.ya froze the wings in low light.good. no flash!it's not going to help. i think it's going to take several seconds to record the image with the moon,so your going the wrong way with your shutter speed. action and low light?not a good combo. you should have given your f stops for your lense,helps people figure out your best bet.if your not asking for something close to impossible,i'd like to hear it? nice pic,sam
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Choo Choo Love |
Hi Sam: Thanks for the compliments on the photo. Coming from you, it's a real honor because you tell it like it is and that's why I like you. F stop? I went to my lens brochure and I think it's F/3.5 - 6.3 XR Di LD? Does that sound like the F stop? When the geese fly across the moon, there's even less light than in this sunset goose shot and that's why I can't get the darn thing to focus. It's pretty dark by that time and the camera takes a few seconds to record the image by that time. Sometimes it won't even allow me to depress the shutter. Thanks for your help, Sam. Choo
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Choo Choo Love |
Hi again Sam: I notice that when I use the shutter priority mode at 1/1000 shutter speed and 1600 ISO, the same photo is much darker than when I use Program mode with a shutter speed of 1/200. Do you know why that happens? Thanks. Choo
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Samuel Smith |
yes. at 1/200 it sets a slower shutter speed to record more of the image.you have to allow the the sensor to record the image. so at 28mm your lense speed is 3.5 . at 300mm it's 6.3 .but it won't record action in low light. i've seen many pictures I want to take but with my camera and lenses it's not going to happen!so I settle for what I can record. even if you go with focus overide you won't like the results. maybe there's help out there,sam
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Choo Choo Love |
Hi Sam: I've probably been looking at too many National Geographic magazine photos! I never thought that hard about it and I always assumed any SLR would allow you to take those moonlight action shots but since I became much more interested in photography, I've learned that there are cameras out there that cost $30,000 or more! Shocking! I can't afford those either. My Canon and Tamron lens is more than I've ever spent on any one thing, except a piano. I'll have to keep trying. If you think of something, please tell me. I'll try it. The moon and geese flying across it is driving me nuts! Thanks. Choo
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Forrest C. Wilkinson |
Your problem is your high ISO speed, it will washout the moon. Shoot at the minimum ISO speed, which is 100 for you. Shoot at 100 ISO and at a long Depth of Field, around f/14. Use a tripod and shoot at lower shutter-speeds, such as 1/125. Put your camera on the AV mode then set the aperture to f/11 and let the camera set the shutter speed. And be sure that your ISO is at 100.
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Samuel Smith |
hey forest, you think at f11 and low light her camera,given her lense speed,will shoot at 1/125?very interesting? i agree with the moon shot,but the geese flying past it? still learning,sam
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Forrest C. Wilkinson |
If you're shooting towards a sunset I would think so. I shoot at about 1/80 on sunsets at f/14 ISO 100. I mean, sure compensate the shutter to the correct exposure setting, but that should do the trick, not setting up the ISO which will wash out detail and bright objects. Also, if you need a higher shutter, compensate aperture until f/8, in which case you can add up to 400 ISO, but no more on landscapes. Anything higher and you will not get what you hope for. Hope this helps.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Sam tells it like it is?
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Samuel Smith |
hi ya greg,you and your mini-pics,i don't think I change socks that often.i'm glad someone is keeping an eye on me. actually forrest she wants a picture of geese,and you can tell they're geese,not just little black spots,with the moon as a background.not a sillhouette? am I correct choo? sam
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Choo Choo Love |
Hi Sam, Forrest and Greg: Forrest: Thank you for the advice. It's almost a full moon tonight so I'll go out and try it just outside my garage with tripod and AV mode set to 100 ISO and aperture f/11. I'll see if I can even get a shot of the moon alone. I haven't had any luck getting any night shots at all, with or without moon, still or action. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thank you, Forrest. You're a terrific photographer, by the way. Sam: Yeah, I'd like pictures of geese flying across the moon. Silhouette is okay as long as you can see they're geese. They'll be silhouettes, right? I mean, they'll be backlit by the moon, right? Greg: Of course Sam tells it like it is. I've never known him any other way, have you? Interesting. Thanks, everybody! I'll go out now and try to shoot a moon. Choo
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Samuel Smith |
careful on your wording there choo,your neighbors might be looking out their windows. you know I wish you the best. just so you have a reference to lock focus on.does your camera have focus lock or something.so you can focus on the moon and then recompose the picture? i still have a different picture in my head,and laughing and gotta go. sam
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Choo Choo Love |
It didn't work. I went out just beyond our garage, set the camera to AV, f/11 aperture, ISO 100, tripod. Camera wouldn't focus on the moon. I couldn't depress the shutter. The 30 shutter speed was blinking which indicated underexposure so I increased the f/11 down to 5.6 - still blinking and wouldn't focus. I increased the ISO to 400 - still won't focus. Oh, dear! Help!
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Dan Smith |
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Dan Smith |
AHHHH ! I apoligise got a broken hand and no spell checker....
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Choo Choo Love |
LOL, indeed, DJ! I've been running back and forth trying to get a shot of the moon and my husband thinks I've gone insane! After all that, what do I have to show for it? NADA! Do you use a digital camera? I didn't know I could use a teleconverter for a digital? As for layers - oh, my goodness! I wouldn't know where to start. I think I still need a good shot of the moon, though. That will be a start. How come you can focus in the dark at 1/125 5.5 ISO 100? My camera absolutely refuses to focus. Did you shoot it on manual focus?
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Dan Smith |
I Have the canon 300d (digital rebel) the model just before your's ...it will auto focus with the doubler on and the lens zoomed all the way / but I set it on center focus with the camera's program mode.. .. or you can use say ..... a 35-80 mm 0r a 50 mm lens...i have ... with all focus zones active... but you have to blow the picture up to much to get a proper size moon.... you will have to over ride the camera auto exposure ... and put your shutter speed in manually .. ..or the camera will take to long of an exposure... if you set your dial at the first picture above the green zone ..........and start at @ 1/200 and let the camera set the apiture ? ....and use each step in shutter speed up to @ 1/50 ........ you must use the tripod or set the camera on somthing or it will be even more difficult to get a clear picture... whew...sory to ramble... D.J.
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Forrest C. Wilkinson |
Choo, No doubt you should be using manual focus. Cameras will have a terrible time trying to focus on an object in the dark, just do it yourself. And your camera should be able to shoot the moon at f/11, it might flash 30", but set it to manual mode and set the shutter down to about 5 seconds. You will see that the camera is only flashing 30" because it thinks that the black is supposed to be an object. You want to also zoom in on your pictures because chances are that even 5 seconds will blow out some of the moon at f/11, if it does, set your aperture up until it doesn't. If you get to the minimum aperture and it is still blowing out the moon, then you can change the shutter. Bottom line is, manual focus, manual shutter, manual aperture; don't count on the camera in night shots, ever.
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Choo Choo Love |
Hi Sam, DJ and Forrest: SAM: Your message cracked me up! Your mind is full of naughty things ....too much beer, I think! Oh ... DJ: WOW! That's a lot of stuff to work on. What is the green zone? Forrest: I'm going to do manual now. If I get a got shot of the moon, I'll post it up here for all of you to see. Thanks once again, guys! Be good, Sam! Hasta La Vista! Choo
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Choo Choo Love |
GOOD NEWS FIRST: I did manual focusing for the first time in my life and finally managed to take a night photo! Yippeee! I like manual focus! I used a tripod, of course. QUESTION: Why not use manual focus all the time? NOT SO GOOD NEWS: Instead of shooting one moon, I shot two! The real moon is on the top right corner. The second moon is on the opposite corner on the bottom. I used manual focus with tripod but the camera had previously been set on Program mode with 1600 ISO. Should I have set it to AV mode even with manual focus? I thought manual focus would override whatever mode the camera was in before? Sam: My camera can do focus lock but I've never tried it. I need to learn how to do it. The instructions are fuzzy. Thanks, everyone!
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Choo Choo Love |
GOOD NEWS FIRST: I did manual focusing for the first time in my life and finally managed to take a night photo! Yippeee! I like manual focus! I used a tripod, of course. QUESTION: Why not use manual focus all the time? NOT SO GOOD NEWS: Instead of shooting one moon, I shot two! The real moon is on the top right corner. The second moon is on the opposite corner on the bottom. I used manual focus with tripod but the camera had previously been set on Program mode with 1600 ISO. Should I have set it to AV mode even with manual focus? I thought manual focus would override whatever mode the camera was in before? Sam: My camera can do focus lock but I've never tried it. I need to learn how to do it. The instructions are fuzzy. Thanks, everyone!
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Choo Choo Love |
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
you want a picture of the moon, shoot it at f/8 & 1/250, 100iso and your geese flying in front of the moon isn't going to work. you won't be able to get the moon to show and have anything else show.
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Choo Choo Love |
Greg: Are those settings on manual focus with AV mode? When you do manual focus, does it override the creative modes so that it doesn't matter what they were previously set on? Thanks for your suggestion. I'll try again. I've arrived at the same conclusion - night photo of geese in flight across moon won't work. Hard enough to get a photo of a still moon. I think I'll need to get the goose flight across the moon earlier at twilight or dawn.
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Choo Choo Love |
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
focus isn't involved with exposure, or modes, and nothing wrong with using manual focus all the time, I do. It's more fun. If you want to use manual focus for the moon you'd probably have to be able to activate only one focus spot things, or else you'll have a majority of them trying to lock on to nothing but sky. those settings I gave are manual.
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