This is the weekend to Shoot the Moon!

[nuclearjock]

There's a Super Moon this weekend. So get out the big glass and tripod and maybe you'll see some foot prints :smile:.

 

[banditvt]

Here's a shot I got of the moon two nights ago with my Tokina 300mm f4, and a cheap Quantaray 2.0x teleconverter.

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[nuclearjock]

Here's a shot I got of the moon two nights ago with my Tokina 300mm f4, and a cheap Quantaray 2.0x teleconverter.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UiRVn-fk0Xk/UcJ_-n0JphI/AAAAAAAACJk/Tm6GGkvpqfE/s800/Moon.jpg

Looks expensive to me :smile:. Very nice shot.

 

[Butlerkid]

Thanks for the information!

 

[banditvt]

Looks expensive to me :smile:. Very nice shot.

Thanks. It took a bit of doing to get it that nice. With my Tokina lens it's the old screw driven auto focus, and with the teleconverter on, there is a bit of movement in the focus ring even after the camera locks focus. Trying to use live view to hyper focus is impossible as the moon just looks like an over exposed blob on the screen with no detail. I was however able to zoom in on live view, and see just a very small amount of detail on the very bottom edge of the moon, and tried hyper focusing on that. Even with that it took several shots to get one that was really good, and some additional work in Photoshop to get it to this.

 

[NewBert]

Thanks for the info - but, to be honest, I recall last July's "Supermoon" wasn't anything particularly different than any other full moon. <shrug>

 

[NewBert]

Thanks. It took a bit of doing to get it that nice. With my Tokina lens it's the old screw driven auto focus, and with the teleconverter on, there is a bit of movement in the focus ring even after the camera locks focus. Trying to use live view to hyper focus is impossible as the moon just looks like an over exposed blob on the screen with no detail. I was however able to zoom in on live view, and see just a very small amount of detail on the very bottom edge of the moon, and tried hyper focusing on that. Even with that it took several shots to get one that was really good, and some additional work in Photoshop to get it to this.

Excellent Shot, Gary!

From my limited experience at it, getting a really good image of the moon is not nearly as straightforward as what it seems. Well done!

 

[davidw]

forcast to be cloudy over the weekend in Sydney .unfortunately.

 

[socrreferee]

OK - I've not shot the moon, so I'm hoping that someone can give me the best settings for shooting the moon? I would assume use a tripod, low ISO and an aperture around f16? Spot meter?
Thanks for any recommendations.

 

[AlJohnston]

Spot metering is fine, but manual mode and a "Sunny 16" exposure works just as well - remember that the surface of the Moon is in uninterrupted noon-day sunshine...

 

[Carole]

I took this one with my 70-300VR - hand held
NIKON D300, f/5.6 @ 300 mm, 1/160, ISO 400

This weekend I'm going to try out my new tripod and see what I get.

Carole

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[banditvt]

I prefer to photograph the moon when it's between 70-90% illuminated. This tends to show more detail in the moon where the shadow crosses, and gives the moon more depth instead of just a round disk in the sky.

I tend to shoot in manual mode, and manual focus to really dial in and nail the focus. The EXIF data is incorrect on the image I posted as my converter does not have the chip to report the correct information. I shot the picture above in manual mode at 600mm, 1/100, at f/8 (as reported by the lens) which when corrected for the 2x TC comes to f/16. Generally speaking as with most lenses stopping down about two stops from wide open will yield the best results. I also tend to underexpose slightly (up to as much as 2 stops depending on the moons brightness) to help bring out the details better. The best advice I can give is to just go out on a nice clear night and shoot a ton of shots at various settings to see what you like the best. Also remember that shooting a partially shadowed moon will show more detail near the shadow.

 

[lunitic]

Spot metering is fine, but manual mode and a "Sunny 16" exposure works just as well - remember that the surface of the Moon is in uninterrupted noon-day sunshine...

This is what has thrown me off in the past. I expect the exposure to require far more time and a far larger aperture than is actually required - it's actually quite bright. I'll try again this evening!

 

[lunitic]

This was the best I could muster with my 50mm lens. It was a sight to see though.

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&quot;Supermoon&quot; by Lunitic, on Flickr

 

[McQ]

I prefer to photograph the moon when it's between 70-90% illuminated. This tends to show more detail in the moon where the shadow crosses, and gives the moon more depth instead of just a round disk in the sky.

I tend to shoot in manual mode, and manual focus to really dial in and nail the focus. The EXIF data is incorrect on the image I posted as my converter does not have the chip to report the correct information. I shot the picture above in manual mode at 600mm, 1/100, at f/8 (as reported by the lens) which when corrected for the 2x TC comes to f/16. Generally speaking as with most lenses stopping down about two stops from wide open will yield the best results. I also tend to underexpose slightly (up to as much as 2 stops depending on the moons brightness) to help bring out the details better. The best advice I can give is to just go out on a nice clear night and shoot a ton of shots at various settings to see what you like the best. Also remember that shooting a partially shadowed moon will show more detail near the shadow.

Great shot, Gary. And the above information is very helpful for budding lunar photographers. I also tend to prefer to shoot when the Moon is not full.

If I may add some more advice to the above. Some obvious, some not so much:

- Always use a tripod if available and lock it down tight
- If you have a shutter delay feature, use it to dampen out vibration
- Better yet, or in addition to that, use a remote shutter release

 

[Carole]

We didn't get to see the moon as it rained both nights and it's still raining

Carole

 

[vindex1963]

Here's a shot I got of the moon two nights ago with my Tokina 300mm f4, and a cheap Quantaray 2.0x teleconverter.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UiRVn-fk0Xk/UcJ_-n0JphI/AAAAAAAACJk/Tm6GGkvpqfE/s800/Moon.jpg

Very good shot.

 

[falkman]

Well, this is what I got tonight. Cloudy weather did not make it like I wanted: a low moon rising over the forest. Gonna try tomorrow again but the forcast says cloudy. 70-300 VR on a tripod.

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[banditvt]

Great shot, Gary. And the above information is very helpful for budding lunar photographers. I also tend to prefer to shoot when the Moon is not full.

If I may add some more advice to the above. Some obvious, some not so much:

- Always use a tripod if available and lock it down tight
- If you have a shutter delay feature, use it to dampen out vibration
- Better yet, or in addition to that, use a remote shutter release

I did use a tripod for this shot. Due to the nature of the cheap teleconverter, combined with the screw driven auto focus on my Tokina lens the AF ring actually has a bit of play in it, so even when the camera locks focus it's still out by a little bit so I use the tripod to hold everything in place while I fine tune the focus to get it as sharp as I can.

I then used mirror up mode, and let the camera settle down for a few seconds before actually taking the shot.

Very good shot.

Thanks a bunch Tom. This is by far one of my best moon shots to date.

Excellent Shot, Gary!

From my limited experience at it, getting a really good image of the moon is not nearly as straightforward as what it seems. Well done!

Thank you Bert. Actually I thought the same thing when I first started out. It did take me a bit of practice, as well as some trial and error, but I figured it out pretty quickly.

Perhaps I should type up a detailed tutorial on how to photograph the moon and see if the moderators can make it a sticky so people can read up on how to do it.

 

[McQ]

I did use a tripod for this shot. Due to the nature of the cheap teleconverter, combined with the screw driven auto focus on my Tokina lens the AF ring actually has a bit of play in it, so even when the camera locks focus it's still out by a little bit so I use the tripod to hold everything in place while I fine tune the focus to get it as sharp as I can.

I then used mirror up mode, and let the camera settle down for a few seconds before actually taking the shot.

Mirror Up - that's another good bit of advice.

By the way, I was just adding on to your advice, not actually telling you how to make those shots. Sorry for the lack of clarity on that! It was meant as advice for those just learning how to do lunar shots.

Keep on with the terrific photos!
:smile: