This picture required depth of field, but night photography requires the largest lens aperture on the lens to gather enough light to expose for the starry sky. That's a conflict, obviously. The only solution is to use a lens that is so wide that it has depth of field from just a few feet from the camera position to infinity. For this picture, I used a 15-30mm Tamron lens, and at 15mm this lens has phenomenal depth of field. That's how I was able to render the immediate foreground as well as the sky sharp. My aperture here was f/2.8, and I used 2000 ISO. The exposure time was 25 seconds.
2 Comments
Jun 9, 2016, 6:36:15 AM
BobTurner - Great setting. I am not personally a big fan of the broad use of light painting. Would it be possible to photograph the barn and other elements at dusk at required exposure then the night sky with multiple exposures and stack images. Would this result in a good overall exposure
Jun 9, 2016, 5:47:03 AM
Jim - Hi Bob, No, it wouldn't unless you wanted to do masking. The problem is that the dusk sky would combine with the stars, making the sky too light and the stars not readily visible. With a mask, though, you could do it. The challenge is making a precise mask with the trees. I believe Topaz Remask would do a pretty good job.