Moon Shots - There's Hope Yet!

[PhotoXopher]

Here's a couple examples of my attempts at photographing the moon.

The first is from a couple months ago, the second is from last night, hoping practice paid off?

 

[Dylan-Fishman]

The second one is beautifully shot! Love it!

 

[PhotoXopher]

Thank you Dylan!

 

[icassell]

The second one is better than the first. I would suggest a tripod, if you're not using one, as there does seem to be a bit of unsharpness to the image. Additionally, the highlights are a bit blown. Remember that shooting the moon is not like shooting a dark object -- you are shooting sunlight.

Somewhere on the forum is a moon shot thread. (Ahhh here it is: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photo-themes/4114-moon.html )

Keep shooting!

Ian

 

[PhotoXopher]

Yeah, everyone was asleep when I shot it so I didn't want to go rummaging around for it.

If I remember right this was at F11 @ 1/125th.

You're right though, the highlights are blown... back to the drawing board

 

[Don Kondra]

Still, the second shot is quite an improvement in the right direction

Cheers, Don

 

[PhotoXopher]

Thanks Don!

And to think, the first one was on a tripod - second one hand held

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

What lense did you use NOYZE?

Side note, I don't care much for Headblade.

 

[Don Kondra]

Ah, but on the second shot the exposure is better.

Looking forward to seeing your third shot

Cheers, Don

 

[PhotoXopher]

First was taken with the 18-200VR, second was taken with the 70-300VR (both Nikkor).

The camera changed as well but I went from a D40 to a D80 to a D200 to a D90 in about 2 months time so I don't recall what I used on the first one

No HeadBlade for you huh? What's your weapon of choice? Some days I use my 1947 Gillette Super Speed, Badger Hair Brush and C.O Bigelow shave cream so I'm not 100% HeadBlade but I lean that way.

 

[Defy]

I'm not sure the settings but i think it was F11 @ 1/250 on a tripod.

 

[Don Kondra]

Hay Defy,

From Kuso Exif Viewer... and your point is???

Standard Information
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D300
ImageSize: 518x543
ShutterCount: 7053
ExposureTime: 1/125"
Aperture: F8.0
MaxAperture: F2.8
DepthOfFocus: 4.51 m (21.67 - 26.18)
ExposureProgram: Manual
MeteringMode: Multi-segment
Flash: No Flash
ISO: 100
WhiteBalance: Auto
FocalLength: 200.0 mm

Cheers, Don

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

N0YZE,
Cool, I didn't even think about pointing my 55-250mm at the moon. I'll give it a go someday. I thought it would have been something zoomier.

Side conversation: Gillette 5 blade fusion. I love the HeadBlade design, I hate the blades. I have tried a few kinds, but all leave me irritated and super sensitive. Fusion, is a dream , and I haven't found anything slicker than SoftSoap for shave cream.

 

[Nolan]

The 2nd one is good, it looks great.
But the first one seems like its over exposed. And because of this the detail is pretty low.

 

[kundalini]

Second is a vast improvement, but there is some coloration that needs to be attended to. Magenta.

You will find that a tripod and rather fast shutter speed will be your friend when shooting the moon. Whatever your lens, find the sweetspot. This will usually be between f/7.1 - f/16, but moreso around f/8.

ISO set to baseline.

Shutter speed will likely be around 1/160- 1/200, depending on the phase. It really is a quick shot.

My PP skills suck, but I have read where some people take a shot exposed for the black sky and another of the moon, then merge the two.

Also, along with the tripod, get yourself a remote shutter release.