[Frustrated] Photos of the moon.

[DarknFuzzy]

It was a reletively clear night and the full moon was sitting just above the tree tops behind my house. What clouds there were, were reflecting the moons light and looked very picturesque.

So off I went for camera and tripod, setup and began shooting. To say I struggled would be fairly accurate, I couldn't seem to find the right balance to correctly expose the foreground without over exposing the moon.

Is there a "correct procedure" for this? I realise trying to photograph something very bright and something very dark is always going to be difficult but I have seen photos like this in the past so i'm assuming it is possible??

Any help from you hardened pro's appreciated.

 

[Yv]

I can tell you that the moon needs short exposures - my last suucessful ones were at F14 at 1/250 through a 70-300 lens, so even possible at handheld, and as didnt really need the F14, could have been wider and quicker on the exposure.

Trouble is of course, that doesnt help getting the foreground as that needs a tripod and much longer exposure times.....


....the cheat in me would suggest doing different exposures for the moon and for the land then a bit of photoshop jiggery pokery.



Alternatively, howabout a hefty ND grad filter? :shrug:

 

[DarknFuzzy]

Thanks for the reply, I did wonder about filters but i haven't got around to buying any just yet. I was using my 70-300 lens too and managed to get photos of the moon which were well exposed but Including the foreground was the problem.

 

[CT]

Around 125th at f8 is usually about right for moon shots - you might have to adjust sightly either way as the brightness varies quite a bit.

The problem with holding the exposure back for the moon to allow the foreground to make an impression on the sensor is that the moon is moving all the time so you can't afford to go too slow with the shutter speed if you want it to render sharply

I'd definitely be taking two shots and combining them in processing.

 

[DarknFuzzy]

Thanks Folks, I'll give it a go on the next full moon.

 

[Mohain]

Like the 'sunny 16' rule, there's also a 'moony 11' rule F11 with your shutter spead the same as your ISO. Start there and bracket around that

 

[Pads]

Can you explain the "sunny 16" and the "moony 11" rules in a little more detail for us newcomers?

Thanks in advance !

 

[Davec223]

Sunny 16 rule is simple evenI remember it. On a sunny day set your shutter speed to the same as the ISO that you are shooting at and set the aperture F16 and shoot away.
Moony 11 is the same as above but set your aperture at F11.

Hope this helps

 

[CT]

Thanks Folks, I'll give it a go on the next full moon.

You'll actually get more detail in shots of the moon when it's not full. This is where a good sturdy tripod really comes into it's own. If you can - erect the tripod high enough that once you have the moon lined up in the viewfinder you can stand comfortably and don't have to bend your legs or keep stooping. You'll see that you only have to touch the camera for the moon to be dithering like a jelly in the viewfinder.

Once it's all lined up and the head is locked off, either take the shot with the self timer or a remote release.

I can't remember now whether this was at 700mm or 1000mm

I still want to try this shot with both converters.

 

[busterboy]

You definately need as much reach as possible using extenders if possible. I'll also second CT's comments about using a tripod and timer or cable release. Its the only way to get any detail in a shot as far away as the moon..
Keep camera shake well away from shots of the moon.

Here is one I took a while back using my 300mm lens with a 2x converter.

 

[Sisteron]

Great Shot CT.

It's nice to learn something new with "Sunny 16"

 

[scraggs]

I'll third what CT said, you definately seem to get better shots when it's not a full moon, and the tripod and shutter release cable or using the self timer are a must to get good results.

This was taken with the 100-400 with a Kenko 1.4x tc

 

[antc]

Reach is all important with these moon shots as has been said by others. I got the following shot with my 100-400 during the lunar eclipse a few months ago using a tripod and timer release.

http://www.anthony-clay.co.uk/gallery.php?JGALL_DIR=Lunar Images/&JGALL_IMG=IMG_7896wb.jpg

sorry thats not embedded in the page. i seem to have forgotten how to do that with images from my site :shrug:

edit: got it working now so here goes.................