Star Reflections Night Photography

Learn how to shoot night photography. Follow the 5 steps below to shoot star reflections in water.

Star Reflections in Water

About This Photo

To get clear star reflections in the water I shot the photo during a clear night sky. In addition, there was no moon which makes the sky darker and stars brighter. If you want similar results, you will need to plan your shoot during a new moon or when the moon is below the horizon. This photo was shot at 11:31 PM on November 27, 2019 in Palm Harbor, FL. Thus, it was shot in the dark of night. The sky is darkest after astrological twilight. You can calculate when astrological twilight ends at your location using TimeandDate.com

Step 1 – The Right Night Photography Conditions

First step is to find a location with unobstructed view of a water pond. The first location I went to had a fence around the water. I crawled under the fence with my camera and setup a tripod. After taking a number of shots and reviewing them, I discovered no star reflections in the water. As a result, I left my first location and drove to another nearby pond. Fortunately, I found the right camera angle for stars to reflect off the water.

Step 2 – The Right Lens For Your Camera

On full-frame camera use a standard lens 50mm or wide-angle lens 35mm or less. With crop-sensor camera use a wide angle lens 35mm or less. There are two reasons to choose these focal lengths. First, they gives you a wider field of view. As a result, you can get more of the scene in focus including foreground element such as star reflections. Second, it gives you a deeper depth of field. Thus, more of the scene is in focus from foreground to background.

Step 3 – Lock Infinity Focus

Infinity focus is when you have sharp focus to the stars in the sky. Specifically, it’s the depth of focus from the star reflections on the water to the stars in the sky. First, put your camera in single point focus mode. Then you autofocus on a point of light that’s far away. For instance, with full-frame camera at aperture of f/4 and 50mm lens I want my focus point to be 140 feet away or 200 feet away at f/2.8. At short focal lengths such as 35mm lens I want my focus point to be 70 feet away at f/4 or 100 feet away at f/2.8. Once your camera has locked autofocus, switch your camera or lens from autofocus to manual. You now have locked on infinity focus.

Step 4 – Calculate Shutter speed for Pin Point Stars

For pint point stars in the sky you need to calculate shutter speed using the 500 rule and your camera’s sensor size. On a full-frame camera sensor the formula for Maximum Shutter Speed is 500 divided by lens focal length. For instance, 500 / 50mm lens equals 10 second shutter speed. Using a crop sensor camera the formula is 500 / (focal length multiplied by crop factor). For example, 500 / (50mm * 1.6) / 500 equal 6.25 rounded down to 6 second shutter speed.

Step 5 – Final Camera Settings and Tips

Put your camera in manual mode and set shutter speed to number of seconds you calculate in step 4. The aperture I shot was f/4 at ISO 800. Use open apertures of f/2.8 or f/4 when shooting night photography. Make sure you turn auto-ISO off and manually control the ISO. Using Nikon and Canon camera you can take shots and review the photo in LCD display. If image is too dark, increase the ISO. My photo was underexposure at ISO 800. However, using Adobe Photoshop I opened the shadows to show more details.

When you’re shooting long exposures, you will need to use a tripod. Common mistake is to stay in the same position where you place your tripod. Avoid this mistake by taking a few shots and moving the tripod around so you get different angle and composition. Good luck!