topic Re: sky photography? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

sky photography?

stargirl23 — Tue, 23 May 2017 16:06:41 GMT

i tried taking a picture of some birds flying over the other day and today i tried taking a picture of this halo around the sun. however i couldn't use any of the auto modes to take a picture. the lens just wouldn't focus. i've noticed this on a couple other occasions. i had to change the setting on the lens from AF to MF to be able to take the picture. i understand that sometimes this is an issue with contrast or low light. but is there a way to be able to take pictures of the sky on auto mode? if birds or something fly over i want to be able to take some pictures at a second's notice without having to mess with manual settings. i have the canon rebel t6 kit. i was using the 18-55mm lens.

canon EOS Rebel T6
f/22
shutter: 1/250 sec
ISO: 100
focal length: 18mm
Aperture priority
White balance: Auto

Re: sky photography?

kvbarkley — Tue, 23 May 2017 16:38:13 GMT

You have to have one of the focus points on the birds. The camera needs *something* with contrast to focus on. I usually just set the central focus point.

And you ain't gonna see much at 18mm. This was at 600:

Re: sky photography?

stargirl23 — Tue, 23 May 2017 16:43:27 GMT

thanks, yes i realize i won't see much at 18mm. i meant birds high at a distance. but for the image above, would there have been a way to autofocus that or is manual only best for the sun?

Re: sky photography?

kvbarkley — Tue, 23 May 2017 18:23:13 GMT

No way to autofocus. You might be able to focus on a distant mountain and recompose.

Re: sky photography?

stargirl23 — Tue, 23 May 2017 19:16:20 GMT

ok thanks. i was just making sure it wasn't something i was doing wrong. or something wrong with the lens, close up shots of birds i had no trouble with like this one i took.

Re: sky photography?

StanNH — Wed, 24 May 2017 19:42:08 GMT

Just as an aside, I was always taught to never point my camera directly at the sun. Aside from potential damage to your eyes, there is the chance of damaging the camera's sensor. If you want to capture the halo around the sun, I would suggest having any close object block the disc of the sun for safety reasons.

Re: sky photography?

kvbarkley — Wed, 24 May 2017 19:51:44 GMT

I was going to say something about that, but rules are meant to be broken. And while the danger to the camera is still real if you use the rear LCD/EVF there is little danger to your eyes. Besides, sometimes you get interesting shots:

Re: sky photography?

stargirl23 — Wed, 24 May 2017 22:39:05 GMT

yes i'm aware of that. and it's good to point out. i don't actually look through the lens or directly at the sun when i'm photographing it. that's also one of the few times using the LCD screen for visuals helps out. and that's another reason why i'd tried the auto mode at first without much luck.

Re: sky photography?

Waddizzle — Wed, 24 May 2017 22:47:05 GMT

@stargirl23 wrote:
yes i'm aware of that. and it's good to point out. i don't actually look through the lens or directly at the sun when i'm photographing it. that's also one of the few times using the LCD screen for visuals helps out. and that's another reason why i'd tried the auto mode at first without much luck.

Go out one night, and focus at the Moon. Remember the setting. It will be an approximate manual focus setting without a proper sunlight filter.

Re: sky photography?

kvbarkley — Wed, 24 May 2017 22:56:06 GMT

I don't think there is any "setting" on the 18-55.

Re: sky photography?

Waddizzle — Wed, 24 May 2017 23:05:02 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
I don't think there is any "setting" on the 18-55.

Oh, you mean that there is no distance scale? You're probably right. I guess I'm spoiled from using lenses that do.

Re: sky photography?

RobertTheFat — Thu, 25 May 2017 02:12:17 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@kvbarkley wrote:
I don't think there is any "setting" on the 18-55.
Oh, you mean that there is no distance scale? You're probably right. I guess I'm spoiled from using lenses that do.

Locating the infinity point with any accuracy would be pretty hard if it did. The total travel of the focus ring is less than a quarter turn.

Re: sky photography?

stargirl23 — Thu, 25 May 2017 07:20:18 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@stargirl23 wrote:
yes i'm aware of that. and it's good to point out. i don't actually look through the lens or directly at the sun when i'm photographing it. that's also one of the few times using the LCD screen for visuals helps out. and that's another reason why i'd tried the auto mode at first without much luck.
Go out one night, and focus at the Moon. Remember the setting. It will be an approximate manual focus setting without a proper sunlight filter.

thanks for the tips. i'll remember that next time there's a full moon. i have taken pics of the moon. i hadn't thought of a sunlight filter either. one more thing to add to my list of things to get.

Re: sky photography?

stargirl23 — Thu, 25 May 2017 16:47:37 GMT

well, no problems taking pics of planes today! so i guess it was just the low contrast thing i was having problems with.

had a scare yesterday when the camera rolled off the sofa. luckily it landed on my shoe so it was a padded landing. all seems to be ok with it.