1st photo post, C&C please

[Mrs.Doe]

I don't know why I'm so darned nervous to post a photo here. I'll never learn to shoot unless I jump in. I just got my camera a couple weeks ago and I know nothing. Help me!

 

[Samanax]

Shot info:

Camera - Sony DSC-H50
ISO - 400
Aperture - f/4.5
Shutter Speed - 1/8
Focal Length - 78mm

Interesting image. Some noise in the sky. I would have stepped to the left so that the branch didn't fall across the moon...and all the other branches would frame the moon with a rough circle.

The moon is actually over exposed...no details. But the picture is pretty cool.

 

[Mrs.Doe]

Thanks. I'll have to look through my other shots (done in burst). I might have the framing you suggest. Will also try the noise reduction in Photoscape.

Edited to add another framing of the shot:

What settings can I change to remedy overexposure of the moon?

Thanks for your help!

 

[LarryD]

The composition is good... I agree that it might have been better framed without the branch across the edge....

When you shoot the moon, it helps to keep in mind that it is being lighted by the Sun. In other words, the exposure is the same as any brightly lighted subject on earth, f-16, ISO 100 and shutter 1/100. To get the branch silhouette, you could have slowed the shutter down a bit, or opened the stop up some from that. Also, the shot would bee nicely exposed at twilight if possible, rather than at night. As it is, the photo is overexposed (from the moon perspective) and has more noise than necessary..

I think that it is a good shot worth taking again..:thumbup:

 

[KylePeterson]

I really like the idea, and the shot turned out ok. The noise is really distracting to me

 

[manaheim]

The noise is not surprising since it will necessarily be underexposed in order to make the moon expose properly. (granted, I think the moon is overexposed) So, I wouldn't worry about the noise.

You're not going to be able to take a hand-held shot of anything under 1/30th of a second with any real stability. 1/8th is really slow. You'll want to go faster or get a tripod, or both.

 

[astrostu]

What are you trying to capture? The branches or the moon? With that phase moon, you cannot do both unless you do two separate exposures and merge them. To capture the moon, see my lunar photography guide.

Edited to add: An example of this that I did a few years ago is the shot below. I used a 1/200-sec exposure with a very bright flash to illuminate the trees, then I stuck in a photo of the moon that I took at around 1/100-sec through a telescope.