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Old 07-07-2009, 01:58 PM
 
Location: Hangin' with the bears.
3,813 posts, read 4,914,091 times
Reputation: 915

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Quote:
Originally Posted by blueflames50 View Post
Souxcia...wow fabulous pictures!~ what are you using for a camera??
I took the advice of the majority of the folks on this forum and bought a Nikon D70s and a Tamron VC 28-300 lens. I love my camera and lens. On occasion, it 'sticks' and I can't get a shot. I wait a few seconds and it's ok. Captain Crunch told me he has had the same thing happen to him.

While we're talking cameras, any suggestions on how to get great night shots? We've had a beautiful orange moon here the past couple of nights and I can't get a picture. It won't even let me get a shot off.
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Old 07-07-2009, 02:02 PM
 
Location: on top of a mountain
6,994 posts, read 12,732,927 times
Reputation: 3286
Quote:
Originally Posted by Siouxcia View Post
I took the advice of the majority of the folks on this forum and bought a Nikon D70s and a Tamron VC 28-300 lens. I love my camera and lens. On occasion, it 'sticks' and I can't get a shot. I wait a few seconds and it's ok. Captain Crunch told me he has had the same thing happen to him.

While we're talking cameras, any suggestions on how to get great night shots? We've had a beautiful orange moon here the past couple of nights and I can't get a picture. It won't even let me get a shot off.
I am sure some of our forum photographers can answer much better than I can....how about it Rance, Cori, Nephler and others...can you help both of us out with this info??? thanks
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Old 07-07-2009, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Naptowne, Alaska
15,603 posts, read 39,819,676 times
Reputation: 14890
Turn the dial to "M" on top, but keep the camera and lens on autofocus. Set the ISO at 200 (try 400 also). Switch to spot meter so your not focusing on everything...just the moon itself. Now try a few shots. It's more like a daylight shot not a night shot...so the exposure time will be faster than expected. The longer the exposure the brighter the moon to the point you just get a glaring orb. Shoot fairly quick. Set up a tripod and zoom in just shy of the 300mm. You should be able to figure it out. When you find the settings that seem to work...write them down and keep it in your camera case to refer back to at a later time.

In the photography forum there are some "moon" threads. A couple of the guys there have some great advice.
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Old 07-07-2009, 02:32 PM
 
Location: The end of the road Alaska
860 posts, read 2,055,660 times
Reputation: 1768
Love this photo of my grandson fishing in the creek. As long as he has a fishing pole he's a gonner.


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Old 07-07-2009, 03:56 PM
 
Location: Hangin' with the bears.
3,813 posts, read 4,914,091 times
Reputation: 915
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rance View Post
Turn the dial to "M" on top, but keep the camera and lens on autofocus. Set the ISO at 200 (try 400 also). Switch to spot meter so your not focusing on everything...just the moon itself. Now try a few shots. It's more like a daylight shot not a night shot...so the exposure time will be faster than expected. The longer the exposure the brighter the moon to the point you just get a glaring orb. Shoot fairly quick. Set up a tripod and zoom in just shy of the 300mm. You should be able to figure it out. When you find the settings that seem to work...write them down and keep it in your camera case to refer back to at a later time.

In the photography forum there are some "moon" threads. A couple of the guys there have some great advice.
Thanks Rance! I'll try it out tonight. If they turn out, I'll post the best. If not, it's off to the photography forum for me. I think I'll visit there anyway. Thanks again.
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Old 07-07-2009, 05:05 PM
 
Location: Naptowne, Alaska
15,603 posts, read 39,819,676 times
Reputation: 14890
The lake on Sunday


Tree's gone, stumps removed, piling pads set


After a dang hot day of cutting, bucking, dragging, digging, pick axing...enjoying some ice cold beer
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/3001/a9a5232.jpg (broken link)
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Old 07-07-2009, 05:07 PM
 
Location: Naptowne, Alaska
15,603 posts, read 39,819,676 times
Reputation: 14890
ASPilot...you out there? 6:15 AM this morning...waiting to head for Kuparuk
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Old 07-07-2009, 05:20 PM
 
Location: Haines, AK
1,429 posts, read 3,415,883 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rance View Post
ASPilot...you out there? 6:15 AM this morning...waiting to head for Kuparuk
Nope. I have been on vacation

I head back to work tomorrow afternoon
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Old 07-07-2009, 06:18 PM
 
Location: Barrow, Alaska
3,539 posts, read 7,651,105 times
Reputation: 1836
Quote:
Originally Posted by Siouxcia View Post
I took the advice of the majority of the folks on this forum and bought a Nikon D70s and a Tamron VC 28-300 lens. I love my camera and lens. On occasion, it 'sticks' and I can't get a shot. I wait a few seconds and it's ok. Captain Crunch told me he has had the same thing happen to him.
The most common cause for me (but not necessarily for you) is that I've taken too many shots too fast and filled the buffer. Until it can dump a few images to the memory card, the camera "sticks". The "solution" is to buy the fastest memory cards you can afford...

Another possibility is using "single-servo autofocus" mode. That is the little switch on the front of the camera to the right side as you look into the lens. If it is on "S" it cannot fire the shutter until autofocus detects correct focus. In dim light or when pointing at something that doesn't allow the AF system to detect focus, it "sticks". But putting it on "C" allows out of focus shots...

The solution for that one is learning techniques that allow focus lock to be acheived, and how to hold it if you want to reframe before firing the shutter.

Quote:
While we're talking cameras, any suggestions on how to get great night shots? We've had a beautiful orange moon here the past couple of nights and I can't get a picture. It won't even let me get a shot off.
Assuming you want a picture of the moon itself... Consider that the moon is a bright sunlit landscape. Hence the same settings that you'd use in the back yard at high noon apply! The "Sunny Sixteen Rule" is f/16, ISO 100, 1/100 of a second.
Sunny 16 rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rance suggested spot metering to avoid focus problems, but that is a gross misunderstanding. The spot meter is where it measures brightness, and has nothing to do with focus. Metering the moon is tricky due to all that black area surrounding it. You are probably best off using manual exposure modes. (Which is indeed what happens when you set the mode to "M" on the top LCD display.) And then, given the cheap cost of digital film these days, bracket your exposures! Take 20 or 30 shots! Try every different configuration you think could possibly have an effect, and take three shots, or more, for each!

First, use a tripod. Second, use AF to get correct focus, by putting the focus point right on the edge of the moon; then switch to manual focus and leave the lens focused as is for all shots. Third, modify the Sunny Sixteen Rule to get the best from your lens. F/16 is probably not the best aperture. F/8 or f/11 is probably better. Also ISO 200 is better than ISO 100. Hence, a ballpark exposure might be f/8, ISO 200, and 1/800 second. (If your lens' widest aperture is f/5.6, use f/11 instead of f/8, and use 1/400 to compensate.)

But that is just the starting point. Shoot with at least half that shutter speed and take several exposures at increasingly faster shutter speeds.

And use the longest focal length lens you can beg borrow or steal.
On the other hand, if you want the moon to just be a prop that shows up in your "night picture" of some other landscape, that is a much more complex topic that depends on what your "other landscape" is.
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Old 07-07-2009, 07:08 PM
 
Location: Bethel, Alaska
21,368 posts, read 38,119,402 times
Reputation: 13901
The Richardson on Saturday...













Denali Highway




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