Taking photos in almost pitch darkness

Hi guys,

I have to start with a warning - this thread may be a rediculous subject.

So, I've had my D7000 a few weeks now and decided to take some night time shots with it.

What I wanted/trying to capture was a hill with an old part of a church with starts and the moon behind it. HAHA! Annoyingly when I finally made it to the location it was foggy! yet completely clear sky at my house.

Some things went wrong - clouds/fog, numb brain from a seriously long day at work and lack of time to play with settings.

Heres the best result:
Original


Edited (lightend, contrast, hue etc etc, slight sharpen)


So, my main issue is that manual focussing was very poor/difficult in the pitch dark, its me not the camera I know that.

My settings were shockingly off, was shooting manual (didn't have much time to play around to get better results). I'm sure ISO was set to something rubbish

So, used D7000, 35mm 1.8 DX, Manual focus, Manual mode, taken on a tripod on bulb setting, used manual shutter release (Mistake as I have wireless shutter release). Had the shutter open for about 20secs

- What techniques do you guys adere to when shooting in the dark? - in particular how do you guys manual focus?


Would be lovely to have increments on the AF ring so I could go during the day, reference the tripod location and AF increment then be somewhere right when taking the photos when returning in the pitch black. but this is not a perfect world.

All opinions welcome, also banter..

yes, Night photography can be tricky, some people carry a laser pointer, and that seems to work,

I use old glass, and also,, a wide angle is very tolerant of focus beyound 10 feet, lock at infinity and go.

I personally like around ISO 800 for night, keeping my exposures betweeen 20-40 seconds to not overheat the sensor for less noise. Some ambient light (not total darkness) is ideal.

Here is an example.



Fstop: F8, exposure of 20 seconds. ISO 800.

but, I had a fair amount of ambient light. I tend to shoot when there is some moon light,, or sunset was only say within 2 hours,,

Several things you can try 1) focus using LiveView, 2) bring a flashlight and illuminate the subject so auto-focus can get enough contrast to focus; 3) pay close attention to your lens during the day when it focuses on things that are approximately the same distance and make a mental note (or a small piece of painters tape) at the focus settings your lens was at. Then when you're shooting in the dark set the lens to that setting and stop down a stop or two to account for any error in focusing. Assuming the 35mm has the window that shows the focus setting, that is.

The only thing ridiculous about the post is that I believe we've all been there. Nothing like sitting out in the cold and dark with a lens that's hunting and you're left wondering, "OK, now what?"

I have a Streamlight Stylus Pro or a Preon2 with me at all times. I first meter on whatever it is I'm shooting. I'll use that flashlight to illuminate whatever it is that I'm shooting if at all possible to aquire focus. Then I'll focus on the subject, switch to manual focus. Meter the shot. Then I'll turn the light off and activate the shutter. Works well when on a tripod and shooting in pitch darkeness, or what the sensor believes to be pitch darkness. You just have to have a light that can produce a concentrated, tight beam of light for illuminating more distant objects.

Nothing like being prepared with a flashlight and a swiss army knife at ALL TIMES. Because you just never know. I frequently use my SAK to adjust things on my tripod and with the baseplate and I'd absolutely die without both of them after EDC'ing them for over 2 years. Absolutely, one of the things to have in your camera bag would be a flashlight!

The horror of it is, I've had a flashlight there to read settings on my camera, but didn't think to use it to illuminate something I need to focus on. LOL

Ok, I don't feel quite so silly now.

I am determined now to go back up there and get the result I was after in the first place. - will post the results, method and settings used when I do.

I was wearing a head torch and looked away when taking the photo (So a round halo with a large camera shaped siloette would not appear on the grass just infront of me on the grass)

To try the lighting tip (torch on the subject for AF to lock on) I will need to re-position - going closer up the hill as I do not have a powerful enough torch/flashlight for distance shots like the one posted. This is not a problem at all, it is a famous public landmark 'Glastonbury Tor'

Thanks for all the advice and examples, I promise to update with some better results!

Scott

The standard for night photography has alway been 1 sec at F8 at 100 iso....that would be good for street scenes ..shops cars etc ....you are talking a lot darker...why dont you just set the auto iso to 100-12500 min expossure to say 20 sec and use P mode and see what you get..it will be instructive to look at the exif data to see how it did it and then adjust with your brain in manua.

Lots of good tips in here, Thanks Everyone!

Pat in NH

Had an hour free and just so happened to be at sunset,

much better:


by no means perfect - so i'll keep trying.


both shot on the 35mm 1.8 DX, manual, F7.1, ISO400, WB auto Tripod, bulb setting, 18-20sec shutter


to focus I switched to live view to help out with manual focus (can't use bulb setting with live view).

thanks for all advice!

Scott

Somersetscott said:

Had an hour free and just so happened to be at sunset,

much better:
View attachment 26183View attachment 26184

by no means perfect - so i'll keep trying.


both shot on the 35mm 1.8 DX, manual, F7.1, ISO400, WB auto Tripod, bulb setting, 18-20sec shutter


to focus I switched to live view to help out with manual focus (can't use bulb setting with live view).

thanks for all advice!

Scott

Click to expand...

Don't forget to use spot metering!
Could have dropped the aperture to 2.8 as well. Not much in the background there that needed to be in focus. That would have made a brighter exposure.
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Glastonbury Tor. Iconic stuff!