Night shooting problem...?

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fogmeister

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Graham
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There's probably a very simple answer but the problem is this.

I've tried taking a night photo of the moors and lights of the town that my house overlooks. At first, with settings of f/11 on Av and an ISO of 200, the exposure read -2 and was flashing. I cranked up the ISO to 800 and got exposure to 0 and time of 30" but shutter would not fire. I turned the ISO up to 1600 and got a time of 15" but again the shutter wouldn't fire. :thinking:

Any ideas? Using a Cannon EOS 1000D with wide-angle lens.
 
Just a guess here but if your screen is showing a shutter time of 30'' the shutter will open at the start and close after 30 seconds.

Are you saying the shutter did not a) open or b) close or c) nothing at all?

Also it is possible that the shutter will not fire if the camera has not obtaianed focus, was focus obtained?
 
admirable said:
Just a guess here but if your screen is showing a shutter time of 30'' the shutter will open at the start and close after 30 seconds.

Are you saying the shutter did not a) open or b) close or c) nothing at all?

Also it is possible that the shutter will not fire if the camera has not obtaianed focus, was focus obtained?
Click to expand...

+1

Did the camera beep to say focus was obtained? I'm guessing that you are doing shots on a tripod if you are using long exposures.
Depending on the level of light and detail you are shooting you might have to manual focus as there might not be anything for the camera to hook onto.

Until you get focus, the camera will not fire. Think this may be your problem.
 
stupar said:
Until you get focus, the camera will not fire. Think this may be your problem.
Click to expand...

Yup, manual focus to infinity will sort your prob :thumbs:
 
thanks people...

I'm guessing it will be the manual focus that's the issue. It just didn't fire at all. I tried it on a timed shot as well but absolutely nothing.

I'll try again on manual focus and see how that goes

Thanks again :notworthy:
 
I prefer autofocusing on a light source over manual focus.

Aim for the distant streetlights if you can, then remember to switch AF to manual before pressing the shutter button.
 
With night photography it may be better to use the manual approach. I assume your using a tripod so leave the iso on 100. Manual focus and set the camera to the manual exposure. Set the aperature to f11 or f16 etc, then try shutter speeds of 1 and 2 seconds to start with and see how the exposure looks. It will be a bit of trial and error with the shutter speed with the street lights burning out etc.
Hope this helps.
 
Yes, and apertures of f/11 and f/16 will also give a very distinctive star effect on the streetlamps.
 
Well, based on the advice here I've just taken 3 shots that all fired.

I'll post the best in my gallery when I put them on the computer tomorrow. When I say 'best' I mean the one that is closest to what I wanted to achieve as a 'shot'.

Next I'll use the technique on a proper shot :thumbs:
 
One trick I've used when shooting in conditions too dark to get a focus lock and the subject is close enough, is to shine a pocket torch on the spot I want, autofocus there and then switch the lens to manual to lock it in place. You can then fire the shutter.
 
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