Tutorial How to photograph the moon

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How to photograph the moon - How to photograph the moon

Just about everyone with a tripod, long lens and a camera has tried to take a shot of the moon at some point as it's such an obvious subject and just about always there. And that includes me too =). In fact, it isn't very difficult, but there are some gotchas that you do need to bear in mind.

1) Use a tripod, remote release and a couple of seconds delay. That way you ensure that your camera is stable. And if you have a big lens mounted you'd be surprised by how much it wobbles after you've...
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I like the shot. Thanks for the info I will also give it a go.
Regards
Paul.
 
Maybe a silly question but as my longest range lens at the moment is 200mm, will that be able to get similar effects?

Pete
 
Usefull info here. I wish I'd read it earlier as I've already bought a moon filter for my telescope!!
 
I had a go a shooting the moon a couple of weeks ago but with my boys cheap telescope Celestron 70 travelscope, Barlow 2x Lens, Celestron T-Adapter and EOS adapter ring



Need a bit more practice as it was hard to focas (didn't have the body on a tripod at the time) and was shaking a bit but here are the results


Moon by Fla5h.Photos, on Flickr


Moon by Fla5h.Photos, on Flickr
 
another tip is to use live view ( if your camera has it ) to focus by using the live view zoom
also the moon moves quite quickly across the sky upping the shutter speed can help too and with a lot of dslr's using ISO 400 - 800 will not introduce a lot of noise but will help with the shutter speed

the photo's i have taken of the moon i have always slightly underexposed and brought back in PP it might not be the best way but seems to work for me

here's one i took a while ago using a sigma 170 - 500mm lens at 500mm on a canon 50d and a 2x converter
camera settings - 1/200th F8 ISO 400

moon-2.jpg


to be honest i have seen various settings used to gain the same result i don't think there is one setting for all moon shots but the settings above worked for me
 
Try focusing using a netbook / laptop to get a bigger image so you can see the crisp edge easier.
 
Couple of the full moon tonight

#1 taken with 70-200mm with 2x extender @ 400mm


#2 taken with the lads celestron scope
 
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I've always used the "Moony 1's" rule - much like the "Sunny 16", works for full moons very well.

S: 1/100
A: f/11
ISO: 100
Tripod, mirror lock-up.

Done ;)
 
Durbs said:
I've always used the "Moony 1's" rule - much like the "Sunny 16", works for full moons very well.

S: 1/100
A: f/11
ISO: 100
Tripod, mirror lock-up.

Done ;)
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Can I ask what the mirror lock up does to help?
 
Mmarques said:
Can I ask what the mirror lock up does to help?
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It reduces motion blur caused by the vibration in the camera when the mirror moves to allow the exposure. If the mirror is already up then the only camera movement is the shutter opening and closing. Should therefore help capture a sharper image.
 
Good thread, hope to try this over the weekend as it should be quite clear. Just a shame it's not a full moon here.
 
Great tips! Thank you! If you have a remote or use timer to keep your hands from shaking the tripod.
 
Indeed it would!
Have just bought a Pentax OGPS1 astrotracer to see if I can get something of that comet next month... should be fun!!
 
Moon_m1344v2.jpg
 
This was my first ever attempt at the moon many moons ago :D


The Moon in Colour by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

My settings were - 500mm (800mm effective focal length - bigma lens on a 50D), 1/500, F11, ISO 400

I follwed a tutorial I found online to pull out some of the colours that are present in the moon)
 
stupar said:
This was my first ever attempt at the moon many moons ago :D


The Moon in Colour by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

My settings were - 500mm (800mm effective focal length - bigma lens on a 50D), 1/500, F11, ISO 400

I follwed a tutorial I found online to pull out some of the colours that are present in the moon)
Click to expand...

....In my opinion this is by far the best Moon photo posted in this thread so far.
 
SOOC apart from a resizing crop in PSE. Nikon V1, FT-1 and 70-300 VR @ 300mm, giving a 35mm EFL of 810mm. Handheld. ISO 100, 1/125th @ f/11. Exposure set using -1 stop from the centre weighted average reading taken with the moon in the centre of the frame. (The actual exposure is pretty close to that suggested by the Sunny f/16 rule of thumb.)


DSC_0121 by gpn63, on Flickr
 
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