Suggestions for focusing at night w/canon rebel xt

<p>I have been trying some night landscape photography shots, and I am having a really difficult time focusing. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am basically guessing, while I am shooting sometimes the photos turn out good, but most of the time not so good. I have tried using a flashlight, and this does not seem to help. Has anybody ever tried a handheld spotlight? The Kind of setting I am talking about would be a natural scene, with no artificial lights from buildings, towns etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>

<p>I'm tempted to write "good luck..." but that wouldn't be too helpful. Besides, I did do some night photography with a XT at one point and managed to make it work. In no particular order, some thoughts related to the focus question...</p>

<ul>

<li>If you can find anything in the frame - or even outside the frame if about the same distance from the camera - that provides enough brightness/contrast to AF, focus on that, switch AF off, and recompose the photograph.</li>

<li>Do no use the largest apertures on your lenses. Better to use the same apertures and ISOs that you would use for daytime photography and adjust the exposure time appropriately. Using somewhat smaller apertures (probably f/8) will give you greater depth of field and more focus leeway.</li>

<li>In some cases you might set up while there is still light and determine focus then. Wait until dark to make the exposure.</li>

<li>In cases where you just cannot get a good accurate focus you might try focus bracketing: one shot at what you think is correct focus, then one focused slightly closer followed by one focused slightly further away.</li>

<li>The spotlight idea could work - I've actually done that in some cases. </li>

<li>You could also take a light and place it in the scene at the point where you want to focus. Acquire focus on the light, switch to manual focus, retrieve the light, make your exposure.</li>

</ul>

<p>I posted a piece on my blog with <a href="http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2009/02/11/hints-for-night-photography">hints for night photography</a> . You might also take a look at the web site of <a href="http://www.thenocturnes.com/">the Nocturnes</a> , the SF Bay Area night photography group - lots of resources there.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>Best thing you can do is use a Canon speedlight. (using a custom function to emit but not fire). Or even better use a Canon ST-E2, its what I use. ( http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/st-e2.shtml )</p>

<p>Since you're referring to landscape photography, I'm assuming your trying to photograpy things that are far way, say greater than 50 yards. Usually, in such circumstances, I try to set my focus using a distant streetlight, or perhaps a lit up radio tower. Since you say that's not an option for you, it's probably best to set the lens to manual focus at infinity. Since infinity can sometimes be imprecise, you could go out in the daytime and focus on something that's at a similar distance to what you plan to shoot at night. Once you fiqure out the proper focus distance, set the camera to manual focus and use some tape (black electrical tape would likely work) to fix the focus so it doesn't move. Then go shoot your landscape scene later that night.</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

You might consider reading this:<br>

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/irish-nocturne.shtml<br>

I found it very instructive.</p>

<p>Happy Shooting,<br>

Michal</p>

<p>Flashlights can work- point it at something with some contrast. Better yet- stick it in the field and focus on it- the beam of light itself. Generally I focus off a light source (like a streetlight) or the moon (technically a source of reflected light but it's bright enough for this purpose).<br>

<br /> Use your distance scale, pick a middle value and use a small enough aperture (5.6 to 8 or so) to get lots of depth of field so it doesn't matter.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of the help! I read all of these posts, and the suggested websites, I may try some of the suggestions tonight or tommorow night. Thanks again.</p>