Hello everyone, I need some help with taking some pics- I have a camera(a nikon SD7 7.5 mpxl) I know how to use it (mostly) but I've beentrying to take some pictures at night--of the moon and night sky-- and have failed miserably . The camera can take some impressive pics, but the pics I took at night look like a daytime disposable camera took them. We've been having some pretty impressive night skies herein California lately, ( perfect for a spooky setting) and I'd be willing to share the pics with whomever can help me--
thanks yall !!
any info will help-

I would recomend using the cameras slowest asa speed setting. Using a tripod and taking time exposures. Use the raw image capture mode so no internal processing occurs inside the camera and then use PS camera raw to process the image. You should be able to get very good results this way. I do it alll the time with a canon G2 that is only a 4mp camera.

Thanks Jerry, I'll give it a shot tonight!

K. Now does anyone know of a good book, or site, for learning the mechanics of photography on your own?

I want to learn about what the different settings for aperature, shutter speed, etc. do and when to use them. I've always had point-and-shoot 35mm cameras until my new toy arrived.

I'd take a class but there aren't any around here.

get a part time job at a photographer-s

btw, google almost always has your answer

this site looks hideous but its got a lot of info.

http://photographycourse.net

How can I install spycamas in the girls gym change room and send the feed back to my laptop ....um...not what we are talking about is it ...um...well is that the time...(Woooooosh) exit stage right

when i took pictures off the moon
i had to lower the aperture and shutter speed a lot
(make darker)

Thanks supa. I guess I should've clarified better (my most frequent forum sin). I asked about what sites actual photographers thought would be good for learning. I could have googled up a site that looked good to me (since I know diddly-squat about photography) only to turn out to be an utter waste of time and server space.

that is a good one

Well it must be good. There was a picture of Brett Favre on the first page when I visited!

Tofu when I was trying to learn photography I came across so many web sites that
just copied crap from other websites and a lot of it turned out to be wrong. I have a
photography based website but when I built it my goal was to make the web's only
blatantly screwed up photography website as compared to the many sites that claim to
know what they're talking about.
However, I have taken a photo or two and even built my own view camera. If you have
any questions about the mechanics I can probably answer them. Feel free to PM me if you
like.

Vlad, i love your site i found it a while back and read it all. Its so stinking funny

I don't know much about photography, just enough to pay my rent with it

Seriously, you gotta hit the library and read all you can. I usually will come across a book or two that I love and then I go out and buy it so I have it for reference.

Also, hit your local GOOD magazine shop and check out the photography magazines. There are LOTS of them out there and have different levels of ability between them. Find one you like and keep buying them. My philosophy is "if I learn even ONE thing from a magazine, then the $7~20 was well spent on it. Much cheaper than my college photography course!"

Like any artform, learn the CRAFT of it and PRACTICE doing it. WIth digital cameras no one has an excuse to not take LOTS and LOTS of crappy pictures until you master taking GOOD ones.

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This site looks pretty good for photography how-to and discussion: http://photo.net/ I've enjoyed browsing their featured photos...