Shoot The Moon

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

 

 

This will be an on going discussion in photographing the moon.   Full Moons, Half Moons, New Moons, Man on the Moon, and some cheese.  Whatever you have, post it here.  

In November, Linda, Weber, and Seda (my inspiration)  and others, posted pictures and tutorials about techniques to photographing the moon. I've added those below.

And from Donna and Quincy, she left this wonderful video for us all to enjoy and be inspired by.  Thanks so much, Donna.

To get you started here are the  instructions:

From: Linda, Webber and Seda

 

• Camera Mode: Set your camera mode to full Manual Mode.
• ISO: Set your ISO to 100 if you have a Canon DSLR and to 200 if you have a Nikon DSLR (basically, whatever base ISO you have in your camera). For most other brands, the base ISO is also 100. If you have a point and shoot camera, see if you can find a menu setting to set your ISO to 100. Make sure “Auto ISO” is turned Off.
• Aperture: Set your aperture to f/11.
• Shutter Speed: Set your shutter speed to 1/125 on cameras with base ISO 100, and to 1/250 on Nikon DSLRs with base ISO 200.
• Lens Focus: Set your lens to manual focus (either through a switch on the lens or on the camera) and set your focus to infinity. Be careful while setting the focus to infinity, as some lenses allow focusing beyond infinity. On more advanced DSLRs such as Nikon D300, there is a handy feature called “live-view with contrast detect”, which can accurately acquire focus on distant objects. I have used it many times for my moon photography and it works great! If you do not have such a feature in your camera, then try setting your lens to the center of the infinity sign, then take a picture and see if it came out sharp by zooming in the rear LCD of the camera.

Here is another good article. http://www.tzplanet.com/words/how-to-photograph-the-moon/50

 

Linda found this very cool link

The moon exposure calculator is a tool for photographers feeling like taking pictures of the moon, it will give you the estimated shutter speed required based on your ISO, aperture, moon location, weather condition and moon phase.

http://www.adidap.com/2006/12/06/moon-exposure-calculator/

 

 

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

WOW!  I love the first one.  These are great shots!!  Well done :-)

[Denice Caouette]

Joanne, Thanks for all of the information on shooting the moon. We are going to try a get some fun shots tonight during the Lunar Eclipse. Hopefully we will get some good ones!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Denice,

I am so happy we have some Western U.S. participants, finally.  I was hoping and counting on all of you.   Also, it is something to watch.  Just a little envious of all of you tonight.  Looking forward to finding out how it all goes for you. 

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Excellent.  Can't wait to see the eclipse shots.  Out of luck back here in the East.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I just took these two using the settings you posted, what went wrong?

[F, Calla & Luca]

They look like fine canteloupes for me just not as magnified.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I was using my 70-300 lens and could fill the view finder with just the moon but could not get it focused without pulling way back. What am I doing wrong.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

• Linda told us to focus on the edge line of the moon and not directly in the middle.   Would that help you?
• Also use the Calculator link in the above discussion.
• I changed ranges--f/8 to f/11.
• I changed aperture from 1/125 to 1/160  for some reason each night Niko liked different settings but never the same one.
• I did not use a tripod ( because I don't have one) so sometimes I would rest my arms on the mailbox or shoot from my car using a half way down window as a stabilizer to rest the camera on.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

The autofocus cannot focus without a horizontal or vertical line.  Donna, what do you think is wrong?  What are your settings?  ISO, f stop, shutter speed and white balance?

[Donna K & Quincy]

ISO 200, auto ISO turned off. F11,  Shutter Speed 320, tried 250 but all I got was black. Not sure on the white balance, I'll have to check that. I was focusing manually and then tried auto.

I played with it a little in PS and here is the result.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Oops, I seem to have reshaped the moon. LOL

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Oh, I love it. Neon Moon