Night shot with no flash

stevehamblin

I am a total newbie, so sorry if this is an obvious issue. Last night the moon was reflecting on the Gulf of Mexico. I wanted a picture of the moon, water, and a bit of foreground in silhouette. I couldn't figure out how to take the shot without flash. Help?

bruto

Take the camera out of automatic mode to P,A,S or M, and the flash will no longer be automatic. In those modes it will not pop up. You must actuate it manually if you want it. When you do actuate it, it works, and acts as a fill flash.

You can use Aperture priority mode and let the camera choose the shutter speed. If the ISO is set to automatic, it will up the ISO as needed whenever your shutter speed goes below 1/30, allowing you to hand hold. It might get noisy in dark areas when the ISO goes too high. It's necessary if you have no tripod. If you have a tripod turn auto ISO off, put the ISO low, and let the shutter be as slow as it cares to be. One possibility might be to try the shot in A mode since depth of field is your primary goal here, and A mode allows you to determine that. Review the shot, and see if it is too bright. The meter will try to make everything look like daytime, even in the night. Now you can use the exposure compensation button to darken it. Go in the Minus (-) direction here. Keep on going until it's what you want. You can also do this in manual mode, shortening shutter speed to make the shot darker, but you must turn auto ISO off or the meter will keep overriding your decision.

If you use aperture priority set your aperture at a fairly high number, about 8 or 11, and try to find a focus point that is distant, but not as far away as the moon. Chances are that if you can focus on the moonlight in the water, which sounds like your main subject, both your foreground and the moon will be fairly sharp. If not, then you can try aiming for the moon. Hit the moon with single point AF, then switch to MF so that the focus does not change. Then compose your shot. The foreground may be blurred, but the moon will be sharp. Multi point AF will find something to focus on, but it may not be what you want.

If you're not ready to go off auto mode, there is an auto mode without flash. You'll find it on the selector dial right next to the auto setting (an icon of lightning with the diagonal line through it). You will have little other control of what the camera decides, but it will not flash. You won't even get exposure compensation, and the result will likely be too bright.

I would advise, however, that you try to get out of auto mode as soon as you can to maximize your ability to control things. If you intend to do this kind of shot often, you really need a tripod. Even a tabletop tripod or Gorillapod, but something that holds the camera steady. You can get cheapo ones at box stores. The Gorillapod is very versatile for attaching your camera to posts, stair railings, chairs, and what not. You'll never get optimum night shots hand holding. A really good tripod will be a lifetime investment and you'll likely never be sorry to have it, but even the worst crappy tripod is better than none at all.

Without wanting to sound like some kind of shill here, I should probably point out that the owner of this site sells cheat cards that contain advice on similar situations.

stevehamblin

Thanks Bruto!