What is the trick at good night shots?

strick

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I have been trying to get some good shots of the moon the last few nights. I have a few that are OK but not really what I am looking for. I get the moon real crisp by itself but having trouble getting the look I want with moonlit clouds. Any ideas or it is a lost cause.:mrgreen:
 
Tripod yes, i don't have a remote release for the XTi yet.
 
You don't need a remote, use the self timer.
 
I have been trying to get some good shots of the moon the last few nights. I have a few that are OK but not really what I am looking for. I get the moon real crisp by itself but having trouble getting the look I want with moonlit clouds. Any ideas or it is a lost cause.:mrgreen:

Somewhat of a lost cause. The moon is quite bright and can be shot at 125th of a second at f4. Moonlit clouds however are not nearly as bright and require a much slower shutterspeed of a 30th or slower. If you shoot at the slower speed the moon will be overexposed and washed out. At the faster speed you will not get the clouds.

skieur
 
I figured it might be a lost cause. I got a decent shot of the moon though, and some good moonlit clouds shot out of trying. Plus I found a shot I am going to try again tonight that will be pretty cool, if i don't mess it up like I did last night. :D
 
Somewhat of a lost cause. The moon is quite bright and can be shot at 125th of a second at f4. Moonlit clouds however are not nearly as bright and require a much slower shutterspeed of a 30th or slower. If you shoot at the slower speed the moon will be overexposed and washed out. At the faster speed you will not get the clouds.

skieur

correct. You got a chance when the moon is behind some fog/clouds so that it shines through a bit.

A good trick could be to use a piece of glass in front of your lens, which has been darkened locally (use a flame to do that), that way you can get the moon darker.
 
A good trick could be to use a piece of glass in front of your lens, which has been darkened locally (use a flame to do that), that way you can get the moon darker.

Good tip, I may try that at some point. Thanks:thumbup:
 
Here is are 2 attempts. First one is trying to get the clouds

moon-3.jpg


And here is just the moon. Pretty simple shot but you gotta admit the moon is cool. Maybe if I had a conerter or bigger lens???????? :D

Fullmoon-1.jpg
 
Not bad, what lens did you use for the second shot? I was going to go out and dink around with my 170-500 last night but was too tired.
 
That was with a canon EF75-300 f4-5.6. That was at 300mm
 
Double expose, take the same exact shot at two different exposures one for the moon , one for the clouds then blend them in layers in Photoshop

Definitely a pro technique. Bryan Peterson writes about doing this sort of thing except w/sunsets in his Understanding Digital Photography book. He will shoot the sun/sky for one exposure and then the foreground w/the other exposure, slightly overlapping both exposures for the photochop blending process.

have a good one
3Eo
 

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