Including the stars into a night scene is a balancing act between shutter speed, the focal length of the lens, and ISO. To obtain a good exposure of the vary dark sky, a long exposure is required. But if it's too long, the photograph will show the movement of the stars across the sky. Star trails are one thing, but you don't want the dots of light in the sky to look oblong, which is how they will look if the exposure isn't short enough. With a super wide angle lens, such as a 14mm or 16mm on a full frame camera, 30 seconds is the maximum time you should use. I actually prefer a little shorter exposure time. This picture from The Palouse in Washington is a 20 second exposure with an ISO of 2000. I used the Tamron 15-30mm lens. The Texaco station was light painted, and the rest of the scene benefitted from a single light atop a power pole.
4 Comments
Jun 8, 2016, 12:57:09 AM
Jim - Hi Bob, It's entirely trial and error. You paint the scene, look at the results, and adjust accordingly. Experience is of no help, really. There are just too many variables.
Jun 7, 2016, 11:04:16 PM
Bob Vestal - Hi Jim. Love your series of Palouse photographs. In this one the light painting is very effective. How do you know how long to paint with your light source? We live within a few hours drive and seeing your images makes me want to go up and spend some quality photo time there. As always, the technical information is informative and appreciated.
Jun 7, 2016, 6:26:59 PM
Jim - Thank you very much, Zaki. How is your ankle?
Jun 7, 2016, 3:19:26 PM
zaki masud - Jim, This is impressive. Congrats.