Best moon phase and camera settings for shootng stars?

[LittleSparrow]

I am hoping to plan a trip out into the country to visit my parents this Saturday and do my first night time shoot to capture the stars if the weather looks good. There are no street light for kms! What is the best moon phase? I have done some googling and the moon will be around 21% full. Will that work?
Also, if you have any settings tips that would be great too. I have a D3100, 35mm 1.8 and a 18 -55m kit lens, tripod and remote shutter release.

[J Commerford]

+ Lower the ISO [or AUTO might be sufficient]
+ lessen the exposure to cut out any ambient light [that is if you're just wanting to see the stars]
+ obviously make sure the tripod has good stability
+ you may need to manually focus [if focusing on the moon doesn't work]
+ Fiddle around with the settings a bit [on the time exposure setting] and see what works better
**I use Canon, so I don't really know the names for everything on Nikon Cameras.**
......I hope this has helped to some degree......

[jjnic]

Hi, a bit late for your saturday shoot but if you have a smart phone you can download an app ( 'phases of the moon' for android) that will show you what the moon is going to be like on any particular dayand also what time it will rise and set. You can shoot the stars if the moon sets before the sun goes down ☺
With your settings you want as wide and open as possible , bump up your iso and about 25secs and focus to infinity. You'll probably get streaks with your stars instead of pin points cause you really need a wider lens so start saving cause it can get quite addictive ! ☺

[dwolrige]

Following on from jjnjc, the last start shot I did (see avatar pic) was ISO8000, 20sec, 20mm (on Full frame camera), cant remember if it was f3.5 or f5.6 (manual lens).

[ameerat42]

Following on from jjnjc, the last start shot I did (see avatar pic) was ISO8000, 20sec, 20mm (on Full frame camera), cant remember if it was f3.5 or f5.6 (manual lens).

DW, you know what I'm going to say But for those who don't, how about posting the picture so we can see it? Squinting at the avatar has piqued my interest

[Cage]

I wonder if we let Little Sparrow down ?

- Original post on 21/1/15 for tips for the following Saturday.
- Two posts on 24/3/15 ???
- And two today ???

Do you think Little Sparrows request for assistance may have slipped through the cracks?

And on checking I see that LS has won a comp so obviously a resilient type.