Moon Shots

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SuperCNJ

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I've been meaning to take a half decent shot of the moon for sometime now after being inspired by the photos on this forum. But I can never seem to get the timing right. I know there are certain times in each month when theres a full moon but if its cloudy its no good.

So how do people find out when the best times are for a shot. Also I've noticed the the moon can sometimes appear much larger than other times? :thinking:

The longest lens I have atm is the 70-300VR so probably not quite long enough but hopefully it will suffice with cropping. I've taken a few rough test shots with it but it seems that as long as I use spot metering I don't really need long exposures. How did you take yours?
 
You should be able to get some decent shots with that lens, I've done it with my 55-250 and cropped in. Full moon this month was yesterday, to be honest, full moon isn't the best time, as there's very little surface shadow and contrast, much better during the waxing or waning phases, about 1 week from full. The moon appears larger when it's lower in the sky due to atmospherics effects (the light has further to travel through the air), this will have adverse effects on the image. Ideally, you want to take the shots when the moon is as close to the zenith (overhead) as possible to minimise atmospheric travel distance. Also, bear in mind, that atmospheric effects (known as seeing) will also have detrimental effects in the image quality, things like turbulence, heat shimmer etc. You may not be able to see them in the viewfinder, but it's there. I more often than not, ignore the meter as I've not found it to be too accurate for such a bright target against a dark background. Set the ISO to minimum, as the lunar phase increases (you see more of the moon) you need shorter exposures, and I tend to aim to underexpose slightly. I normally use between 1/160 and 1/250 and f5.6 with the 55-250.

This was a crop shot at 250mm

IMG_9559.jpg


From

IMG_9559-Version2.jpg


HTH
 
Also, bear in mind, that atmospheric effects (known as seeing) will also have detrimental effects in the image quality, things like turbulence, heat shimmer etc. You may not be able to see them in the viewfinder, but it's there.
Click to expand...

That is the biggest problem for me along with things you CAN see in the viewfinder - clouds!

I had it in mind to take a series of moon shots a couple of years ago - full moon, half moon, first quarter ... and so on.

Inspired by a clear full moon evening, the first one (similar to that above) was in the bag so off I went to a website which gave me the dates for the next phase... waited for the date to arrive..... and it was cloudy ..... and the same thing on the next date.

So .... take the pics whenever the opportunity arises but don't try and plan anything in advance - other than noting down the advice above and have it ready on the next cloudless evening when the moon is in view.

Alan
 
jgs001,

thanks for the advice! This is what I've been looking for, I thought my 300mm would be a bit short but it seems that it should be ok after looking at your shots!

Alan, thats the biggest problem I face, clouds! Its really quite hard to catch the moon when its full, big/low and clear! So I guess I just have to be opportunistic and ready! lol
 
I was at a football match last night. the moon looked big and clear so I grabbed this wiht the 300mm

moon.jpg
 
You'll get used to the clouds or more and more fed up with them anyway... Oh, one other thing, you can mitigate some of the seeing issues by capturing at least 6 shots, if not more. That's why using high frame rate cameras (like webcams in AVI mode come into there own, as you can combine each frame in the AVI to get the best results, have a look at my zoom into the moon post).
 
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