Another first moon shot - feedback to help me improve most welcome

Son_of_Thor

Son_of_Thor

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Taken with my Nikon 200-500 + 2x TC on a tripod. Not really happy with the level of detail but it's a start

Full moon by Simon Lundbeck, on Flickr

Any advice to help me improve most welcome! :)
 
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Son_of_Thor said:
Taken with my Nikon 200-500 + 2x TC on a tripod. Not really happy with the level of detail but it's a start

Full moon by Simon Lundbeck, on Flickr

Any advice to help me improve most welcome! :)
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I am still learning but can give you my limited advice for what its worth..............

Several points.

A full moon is always a bit tricky as the sun shines directly onto it, thus reducing shadow and detail for most of the area.

I found that despite the camera being on a tripod, there was still camera shake as the shutter opened and closed. Have really got to reduce this shake to zero

Stacking using Registax 6 helped considerably. I use maybe 20 shots taken on the machine gun button (shutter mode) and stacked those. There are several stacking programmes around, many are free. Registax works well. for me anyway.

Usual things about IBIS being shut off when on a tripod etc.

I have actually had some reasonable shots handheld, using Olympus Em1 with a Pany 400mm lens, but they are not consistent alas as I am a bit shaky these days alas.

Your shot is actually quite good, but as you see from Roberts offering there is much more detail to be had.

That's my 2p worth, there are some very good astro photographers on here who will give more advice, good luck and keep trying. The moon is a bit like a robin, difficult to resist....
 
A little extra PP'ing helps to bring out detail. I have tweaked your version, hope that's OK...........34536018676_93c2d59c02_b (2).jpg
 
Mark Johnson said:
Hmmm, I am still learning but can give you my limited advice for what its worth..............

Several points.

A full moon is always a bit tricky as the sun shines directly onto it, thus reducing shadow and detail for most of the area.

I found that despite the camera being on a tripod, there was still camera shake as the shutter opened and closed. Have really got to reduce this shake to zero

Stacking using Registax 6 helped considerably. I use maybe 20 shots taken on the machine gun button (shutter mode) and stacked those. There are several stacking programmes around, many are free. Registax works well. for me anyway.

Usual things about IBIS being shut off when on a tripod etc.

I have actually had some reasonable shots handheld, using Olympus Em1 with a Pany 400mm lens, but they are not consistent alas as I am a bit shaky these days alas.

Your shot is actually quite good, but as you see from Roberts offering there is much more detail to be had.

That's my 2p worth, there are some very good astro photographers on here who will give more advice, good luck and keep trying. The moon is a bit like a robin, difficult to resist....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, plenty of food for thought there. I'm tempted to back off the FL as previously suggested and maybe switch to a 1.4 x TC @ f8 in case diffraction is becoming an issue and crop in more in post. I think I forgot to switch off stabilisation too. My ball head really isn't up to the job with the 200-500 on... just picked up a gimbal which should handle it fine so will try that

Will also have a go with a partial moon and take a look at Registax, thanks
 
Son_of_Thor said:
That's absolutely fine! :) I was struggling to bring out he detail I was hoping I'd captured! Would you mind explaining what you've done to achieve that?
Click to expand...

TBH I just used the Microsoft Photo programme to tweak your picture. In Lightroom 6, clarity is increased, whites and shadows up a bit, highlights and blacks down a bit. Fiddle with the exposure and contrast to make it better....None have to be moved very far, and its easy to overdo it.

If you had taken a dozen shots in quick succession, and processed through Registax, your end product would have rivalled Roberts...

Photo in M/S is quite good for a quick result, sometimes better than others though. As I tend to shoot Raw, it no longer works for me, unless I do a tweak after Lightroom...
 
Thanks Mark, that is pretty much what I was tweaking to get what I ended up with! Looks like it's back to the drawing board with PP on this one (which is hardly unusual for me)...
 
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