Shoutout to the guy at the Cherry Springs star party who showed me his camera settings

I was at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania last fall, trying to get a shot of the Milky Way with my old DSLR. I mean, I'd watched a bunch of videos, but my photos kept coming out just a dark, grainy mess, you know? This guy named Mark, who was set up near me, saw me getting frustrated and just walked over. He didn't make a big deal about it, just said 'mind if I take a look?' and spent maybe ten minutes showing me his exact setup. He had me set my ISO to 3200, my aperture as wide as it would go, and a 20 second exposure. Idk, maybe it's just me, but seeing those numbers on my own screen, right there in the dark with the actual sky above us, just clicked. I got a decent shot that night, not perfect, but it had real stars. Has anyone else had a simple tip from a stranger totally change how you shoot?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_hunt642d ago

Honestly, that 20 second exposure would just give me star trails with my kit lens.

lewis.barbara2d agoMost Upvoted

Kit lenses are basically star trail machines past 10 seconds. Tried it once on a tripod and got blurry smears that looked like a toddler drew them. Makes you appreciate the people who actually get clean shots. My camera's high ISO looks like TV static anyway, so it's a lost cause.