mountaincamper wrote:
...I would love to be able to take shots like this. I have a D3100 with the lens that came with it but also have an older 300mm lens that you have to focus manually.
Can shots like this be taken with the equipment I have now or do I need better equipment like a better lens.
You can take photos like this with your Nikon D3100!
Camera Basics Needed: Your entry-level DSLR has some great features. My Astro-landscapes are often called "High-ISO Milky Way Photography". That's because I use high-ISO's (like 3200 and 6400) so that my exposures can be relatively short (30-seconds or under). This is so the stars remain as points of light rather than moving / blurring and becoming star trails.
High ISO Capability: Your D3100 is capable of shooting at a maximum ISO of 3200 (even 6400 and 12800 via a special menu boost). The only difference between your camera and my Canon 5D Mark III is that photos shot with my camera will have less grain or noise at the same ISO's. (I'm licensing my images for publication, so photo editors expect more from me.)
Lens - Wide and Fast is Better: The other component needed to take good astro-landscapes is a fast lens. All my lenses are f/2.8 or faster. Hopely the "kit" lens that came with your camera was the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, rather than the Nikkor 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 lens. That's because wide-angle lenses are more useful for astro-landscapes than telephoto zooms like the 55-200mm. AND the other reason is because the 18-55mm's f/3.5 aperture is one full stop faster than the 55-200mm's f/4.5! F/3.5 is only 1/2 stop slower than the more expensive f/2.8 lenses that I use.
Basic Exposure Set-up: If you set your D3100 to ISO 3200 and the exposure/picture taking mode to "manual", you can manually set your aperture to f/3.5 and your shutter speed to 30 seconds (30" ). Zoom your lens to its full wide angle of 18mm. Take your lens off auto focus (AF) and switch to manual focus. Manually set your lens' focus to infinity, otherwise your focus motor will move back and forth all night trying to focus in the dark! ;-) You'll need either a
remote release or to use your camera's built in self-timer to fire the shutter. (Note: this exposure is about one-stop under exposed for a wilderness area with little to no
light pollution, but is about right for an average country setting, 30 miles from the city. If you are in a very remote area without light pollution, try a shot at ISO 6400 by using the special boost menu.)
Color Balance: I usually just leave my camera set to "Average" color balance, and make final color adjustments in post production. Some like to shoot in the "Tungsten" color balance mode. This setting will give you a beautiful blue sky. However, if you do any light painting, your landscapes will also be blue-bias, and you'll have to create a mask for them and re-adjust the color back to normal. If you don't plan to do any light painting, this is a cool setting to use.
Light painting during this 30-seconds exposure is
optional.
My most popular NightScape has no light painting. Next week I'll show you what I did on this Zion N.P. shot, and teach you some simpler ways to light paint when you want to add this.
Star Movement: The 30-second exposure time I gave you is going to give you a little bit of star movement (noticeable only in enlargements above 8"x10" prints). A more proper exposure for this 18mm zoom setting would have been 15-seconds; however, this would have greatly underexposure our image, and proper exposure is more important that a little star movement. Later, down-the-road we'll discuss more about star movement and such things as the "600 Rule", and etc.
Step-by-Step Recipe: Here's a simple list of steps to great NightScape photography:
1. Set your camera on a tripod (of course) :)
2. If you have a remote release, use it. Otherwise, you can use you self-timer to set off the shutter (I set it for 2 seconds delay instead of the normal 10 seconds).
3. Turn your lens to manual focus, or shut auto focus off (otherwise the camera goes bonkers trying to see any contrast in the dark, in order to focus).
4. Set your focus manually to infinity (I sometimes even tape it down).
5. Set your camera mode to manual, with is usually "M".
6. Select the highest ISO you have. For most cameras this is 1600. If you have ISO 3200 or 6400, select those instead.
7. Set your lens aperture ("F" stop) to the widest aperture (smallest number), with is usually F/3.5 (2.8 is better, but F/4 or 4.5 is acceptable).
8. Zoom to the widest angle of view (the smallest number, i.e. "15, 18, or 24" ).
9. Set you White Balance to Average (AVG) or Tungsten (3500º Kelvin). Average will give you a dark gray colored sky (you can change this to a more colorful sky in post production using Photoshop or Adobe Elements). Tungsten will give you a dark blue colored sky, which is neat, too.
10. Set your shutter speed to 30 seconds. This is the longest exposure most cameras will give you without going to "B" for "bulb", which allows you to keep the shutter open as long as you hold down the button on your remote release -- which you probably do not have -- so stick with the "M" mode for manual, and turn your shutter selection dial until you get 30 seconds, which usually reads as 30"
11. Frame on the Milky Way or an interesting star constellation, (try to silhouette an interesting foreground, i.e, a row of trees) and take your shot.
Post Production: If you can, shoot in RAW, and use a raw converter plug-in with Photoshop to process your images. They will look better in the end, with better contrast, color, and lower noise. However, most of you are not at this stage in your hobby. Adobe Elements will work fine and do a great job even with your JPEG images. Your digital images of the sky and stars are going to look flat, straight out of the camera -- really blah! They'll be much brighter than what you saw with your naked eye (because of the 30 seconds of light gathering that your camera did).
You'll need to increase the contrast of your digital camera image. You can do this in your "Level" adjustment by clipping off the right side of the histogram and adjusting the middle slider (gamma) until the image gains the contrast you desire, without burning out detail in the stars, or making the sky too dark. You'll also want to change the color of your sky --often to more of a bluish/cyan, by switching to blue and red layers and adjusting the sliders (adding a little magenta can sometimes help the look, too). The more powerful method of adjustment is via "Curves". Experts often apply a "S" curve adjustment that gives much better control.
Post Production Processing Example: Please read this short article I wrote about photographer,
James Neeley: Capturing a Glimpse of the Divine. Scoll down to the bottom of the article and see his before and after post production images for a good visual lesson!
NightScapes on a Budget: Here's a little
Hope and Inspiration from a
gallery of photographers using equipment similar to your Nikon D3100 -- complete with exposure info.
Please keep those questions and comments coming...!