Complete idiot trying to take photo at night :)

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torvalds

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Hi all. Ive just got a new camera. Its only a little Canon IXUS 950 IS because I wanted something that I could carry everywhere with me.

Im completely new to photgraphy so go easy on me :)

Okay now on to my problem. Im trying to take a photo at night of a lake with a full moon shinning down. Its really quite a sight to behold with the mountains and the way the water lights up :)

I just cant get a good photo of it no matter what I try, which is only basic stuff to be honest, selecting night shot and stuff like that.

All the shots ive taken of it have been terrible and you can just make out the moon as a white dot :)

Can some more experienced people please give me some tips so I can get a good photo of this? I know my camera is only small but I read reviews and choose it carefully. Really I was hoping to point and shoot and get good results. Am I missing something?

Thanks to anyone that helps!!
 
Hello and welcome to the forums.

Simple answer is it can't be done that easily. The night scene will need a long exposure time but the moon is really bright and needs only a short exposure.
Your eyes can cope with the difference but your camera can't. You could try putting the camera on a tripod and take one picture that is good for the moon, then another that is good for the scene and then use editing software to combine the good bits of both pictures. You may need to experiment with manual settings to be able to do the two different shots.
 
Sorry to be theone to wee on your fireworks but shots like this are normaly beyond the bounds of compact cameras (and some slr's too!) In order for the moon to appear large then you're going to need a long telephoto lens alas.

The night exposure will also be tricky unless you're camera has a manual mode that allows you make exposures of several minutes.


What exactly do you mean when you say the shots are terrible?
 
take a shot using a tripod that is how you want it, edit out the overexposed moon and put a nice big image of one into the shot :D


thats the cheats way
 
Hmmm that sounds really interesting, the two shots thing I mean. In general has anyone any tips for the two shots? I would just go into night mode but im not sure if thats best.

When I say the pics look bad they dont really look like anything at all because they're so dark. Only the moon can be seen really :(
 
Well if your going to attempt the two shot thing mentioned your gonna need a tripod and make use of the long exposure on your camera (I don't know anything about it on that model, but I have done long exposure shots on several Canon IXUS cameras before).

You need to keep it on a flat steady surface if you can't use a tripod.

Just take two different exposures in the exact same position and edit/combine them. The shot where you will use the moon will need a shorter shutter speed and the shot where you will use the reflection/surroundings will need a longer one (as it's darker).

Don't use nightmode, use full manual, gives you more control over everything.

If it's really dark you are going to need to keep that shutter open for a while, put the ISO up aswel.

Or do what whitewash said...lol!

As said earlier in the topic, this kind of shot is very difficult to get right, particularly with a compact.
 
Was hoping to try what has been mentioned beofre posting back but have not got the same scene as the last couple of times so will have to wait for another good moon :)

Thanks for all your help.
 
Practice using the manual settings while you wait for the right time.

Try some night shots with the camera on a tripod (or left on something and using the timer to avoid movement). You could start with say f5.6, iso 100 and 2 seconds and see how it comes out on a night scene. Change the time to be longer if it is too dark or shorter if over exposed. The moon will need a really short time like around 1/125th second as it is surprisingly bright.

Good luck and report back ;)
 
The prob with pix like that is that the cam can't handle the contrast extremes, torvalds. Next time use a tripod, shoot a bracketed sequence, and apply the HDRI technique in post production: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDRI.

Have fun!
 
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