surfshoptom wrote:
I wish I knew more about the camera settings. I have it set up at Av, ISO 800, f1.8, 2 second delay, Live View. When I half press the shutter, a rectangle shows up. During dusk, the rectangle turns green and there's a beep. Later/darker, the rectangle gets red. No beep no shot.
I'm shooting across a lake at mountains. There's a State Park on the other side. There's lights on the other side - street lights, homes, etc. You think I need to set it to manual focus and infinity?
Thanks.
A good way to start is to place the camera in Auto, press the shutter half-way and look at the readings. Now move it to the mode you want, like Av, and mimic the rest then modify as needed. The idea is to get a feeling for what your camera thinks it needs and learn from it. You will be smarter of course once you learn it's language which this technique will help you understand.
As for the rest, cameras focus looking for light, then typically look for the closest thing to them with contrast. In your situation then, either focus on the edge of a light across the shore or set the lens to Manual Focus at the distance you need.