Taking pics with Moonlights on

[trigger11]

Any suggestions for taking a good picture when you have the moonlights on?
I have the Canon XTI rebel camera with the stock lense. (I'm going to upgrade the lense pretty soon but I am sure it is not the issue). I have to be the worlds worst photographer. I have been able to get some pretty good pics using the autofocus features when I have the MH lights on.
I am pretty sure I will need to use manual focus settings to get a moonlight shot. I put the lense on MF, and set the dial to No Flash. I try to focus in the camera and what I see through the viewfinder would be a reasonable picture. However, when I take the pic it is blurry and you really cant see much. I am at a complete loss as to how you would change aperture settings or anything else for that matter. The manual that comes with it doesnt really go into that kind of detail.
I have seen some beautiful pics with the moonlights on so I know it can be done.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[05xrunner]

shoot in M mode..set the apeture to around f8 and then just keep adjusting the shutter speed till you get the desired results that you want.

 

[trigger11]

Will the flash go off if you are in M mode?
I'll check the instruction book tonight when I get home from work and see if it says how to adjust the shutter. Total newbie in manual mode here. I dont know what the deal is. I can take a computer completely apart and put it back together. But cameras are like kryptonite. LOL

 

[05xrunner]

no..the flash will not go off unless u press the button to pop it up
I havnt had an XT for a while..I forget how to change the ap..I know you just spin the dial by the shutter button to change shutter speed. I think you gotta hold in a button and spin the wheel to change the ap.

 

[trigger11]

Thanks for all of the tips Xrunner. I'm getting the manual out now. Hopefully I can get some shots with the moonlights on tonight. If I can take some that look halway deccent I'll post them.
I would also like to offer a sincere thank you to you for all of the photography posts I have seen in these forums.
I'm seriously looking into upgrading to the Canon EF28-105 lense as I see you had suggested that one to someone else. Seems like it should do a pretty good job of getting a closer up zoom shot for the corals that sit in the back of the tank. Or for the small fish that you really need to get right up on close to get a good picture of them. Plus be a better all around lense to have on the camera full time when I travel. Since the close up capability is not too bad, but it will have more zoom than the stock lense.
Thanks again.