Camera Labs

Lets say on my test shots I was at 30 sec exp, f5.6 and ISO 200. And wanted to brighten the foreground..

Would it be better to open the aperture to let more light in, or raise my ISO to raise the sensitivity?

You can treat the foreground independently from the trails. Take a foreground shot exposed for the foreground, and you can blend it with the trails after. While I haven't tried it myself, you can also try light painting using a torch and long exposure. Obviously depends on the size of the foreground subject.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

popo, slightly o/t to the original question, but when is it worth taking a seperate dark shot to blend into these night sky, star shots?

Is it dependant on taking a certain number of star-shots before it's of any use? (sort of a 5/1 ratio type of thing)

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

What exactly do you mean by dark shot?

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I've seen mentioned many times that for stacking, don't folk take a black/blank image (cap on the lens?) to keep the night sky dark when they stack images, or is it just relevant to you astro/deep sky guys?

Sorry if I completely misunderstand, i'm easily confused.

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Single long exposure, in minutes or hours, generally requires an element of noise reduction. Done in camera, this is a 'dark' shot during which the sensor is on, but no light enters the camera.

So this affects battery life considerably and also you cannot see the end image for a long time period.

Or stacking 30 second exposures requires a single 'dark' shot or 30 seconds.

Thanks Phil.

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Use proper and more powerful lens that improve picture quality as well as brightness. In dark shot, you will get unbelievable result in photos.

So this influences electric storage device life respectably and additionally you can't see the finish picture for quite a while period.

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