How to capture variations of light

I have always wondered about some things that deal with subjects which have a considerable amount of light assiciated with them. Here are the questions I have:

1. Is it possible to capture lightning, and how if so?

2. The moon has been very large in my area lately, but whenever I try to shoot it, I just get a big ball of light. I have tried different apertures and shutter speeds, I just can't seem to get it. Any tips?

3. If I plugged in my camera to an outlet, and pointed it towards the sky at night, would I be able to capture light trails of the stars and such as the earth moves about its axis?

Thanks for the respnoses!

mknabster wrote in post #10604575
I have always wondered about some things that deal with subjects which have a considerable amount of light assiciated with them. Here are the questions I have:

1. Is it possible to capture lightning, and how if so?

If you put the camera on a really tall tripod . . . . . . just kidding

Night time, set smallish aperture and lowest ASA and longest shutterspeed and wait. If its dark enough and your camera has B shutter speed setting try that. Daytime its a lottery

, Well you just have to try a wider range of As and Ss.

You need a B setting to get trails.

Thanks BobL, yea, I would have thought the lightning would be a lottery, unless you knew exactly where it would strike, it could be tough, but o well. i remember getting the moon once, I just completely forget what my settings were, i'll have to look it up. As for the light trails, what kind of aperture would I use, and small one, and probably go for 5-6 hour exposure? The only thing i'm worried about with that, is leaving it outside all night, but it would be interesting what it could capture.

mknabster wrote in post #10610536
Thanks BobL, yea, I would have thought the lightning would be a lottery, unless you knew exactly where it would strike, it could be tough, but o well. i remember getting the moon once, I just completely forget what my settings were, i'll have to look it up. As for the light trails, what kind of aperture would I use, and small one, and probably go for 5-6 hour exposure?

Yep, smallest aperture and don't forget to keep the moon out of the picture. A 5-6 hour exposure are only possible when there is no moon at all. You actually don't need more than a 30 minute exposure to see quite a dramatic effect.

That's what old cameras are for

The best way to do the moon is to use spot metering, a shutter speed that is upwards of 1/60-1/100th if possible, and an aperture that is going to get you a decent sharpness (depends on what lens you're using).

Thanks guys, I think i will give it a shot soon. And bobL, I think I will use an older camera first, my old G6 should suffice.

mknabster wrote in post #10604575
1. Is it possible to capture lightning, and how if so?

At night, you can try long exposures (30 seconds or more) and hope you get it. A more expensive (but less haphazard) way is to buy a lightning trigger for your camera. They sense the lightning and trip the shutter to catch it.

mknabster wrote in post #10604575
2. The moon has been very large in my area lately, but whenever I try to shoot it, I just get a big ball of light. I have tried different apertures and shutter speeds, I just can't seem to get it. Any tips?

Use spot metering and meter directly off the moon. Using evaluative is going to mess you up because it will take the vast expanse of black sky into consideration when calculating your exposure.

mknabster wrote in post #10604575
3. If I plugged in my camera to an outlet, and pointed it towards the sky at night, would I be able to capture light trails of the stars and such as the earth moves about its axis?

Yep. If you point your camera toward Polaris (the north star), the star trails will be circular....if you point it elsewhere, they will go across the frame at angles.