Hey guys. I know we have a lot of talented photographers on here, so I have a question for y'all. I have a Canon T5I and would like to take some night shots. Mostly trying to get some pictures with equipment and northern lights. I'd like to know a good starting point for having my settings on. I have no idea and thought you guys could maybe help out.
Thanks!

David

The basic premise is that you're taking a long exposure, upwards of 1 min or more depending on your ISO setting (sensitivity.) settings are all manual. You can capture a lot in 15 seconds too, it all depends.

Get a good tripod. Expect to use a long shutter speed, and release the shutter using the 2 sec timer so there's no way your movement can introduce blurring.

Just experiment with your exposure settings, trying various aperture setting and shutter speeds. Higher ISO will probably be necessary but those also can introduce noise. There is an optimum, I don't know what it is.

The earth moves and thus the stars from our perspective, so the shortest open shutter to get the shot usually wins in terms of star clarity. Want to create star trails? Extra long exposure.

Get a flash or some work lights and pop them on briefly during the exposure with your plane in the frame.

Z

A1 - I attended the Oregon Star Party in the Ochoco National Forest in Oregon earlier this summer. One of the seminars they put on was about night photography without all of the telescope attachments. The key setting requirements they discussed were pushing the ISO as high as it would go in the camera's settings. Some cameras have a setting to reduce noise for long shutter openings. If your camera has that, use it. Manual focus was recommended for distant night shots. I use autofocus with manual refinements, an option my Lumix offers. If your camera only has a digital display for focus, turn the brightness way down. If you have the option of using the digital display or an eyepiece, use the eyepiece. In dark settings (like an astronomy gathering), other people around you don't like the blaring light of a camera display messing with their night vision. If you can select aperture priority, choose the largest opening available (the smaller the number, the bigger the aperture opening. F2.8 is as wide open as you are likely to find). Here is a good resource for reference, and one of the shots I took with my camera at the star party: As Zane said, a tripod and a remote camera trigger are good for reducing vibration cause by your manual operation of the shutter. If you don't have a remote shutter trigger, use the timer to set off the shutter so your fingers aren't involved.

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-shoot-the-night-sky-introduction-to-astrophotography/

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/QUICK.HTM

Another great tutorial:

http://theartofnight.com/2014/06/the-art-of-astrophotography-tutorial/

Thanks fly hound and Zane! I'll give it a try one of these nights and post up a result!

if you have a auto ISO, set the lens to its lowest f stop and your shutter to 3 seconds as a start.
At 3 seconds, you can almost cheat without a tripod if you can steady it on a rock.
Play with the shutter speed until it looks ok in the LCD. It will be brighter on your computer screen.
I shot the Northern lights that way in Dawson City a week ago. A little shaky but still nice.