Anyone else shoot the full moon last night?

[crimbfighter]

I know, I know, "been there done that" is coming to many minds right about now. But, it's still fun for me. So, I took a break from work and set up the tripod. Pointed the lens and shot the moon. I've been on a kick with getting moon shots the past couple days. I really wish I had more zoom I hope next year when I've got my 70-200 f/2.8 and 2xTC, I'll be able to get some really spectacular ones. These were both cropped between %150-%175 then sharpened and adjusted. EXIF on both I believe was ISO200, F9, 1/160, 200mm

They are more or less for sharing, C&C if you wish. But I'd like to see if anyone else has some moon shots from last nights moon, as well. Post away if you do!

I actually found a 3/4 moon from a couple days ago makes a more interesting shot, because it allows you to see the topography of the surface along the shadow line. The WB is off a little on this one and it's a bit softer as well... but I still like the surface texture more on the second one.

Enjoy, and lets see what you all got!

 

[Babs]

They're both lovely! Well done

I really want to get into astrophotography (is that the right word?? Moon shots and star trails and the like). But I'm a bit off it yet!

 

[crimbfighter]

Thanks! I'm just getting into it myself. My goal is to get a photo of the moon in every phase this coming calendar year. So I'm using the next couple months to fine tune a shooting schedule for next year.

 

[jackiejay]

It is a great shot I hope to try it myself down the road

 

[HokieGirl]

I tried but being very new to this I failed miserably. I couldn't get my settings right. What settings did you use. I have a Nikon D3000 with a 70-300mmm VR lense.

 

[Vinny]

Although I didn't do it last night I did it the last full moon and yeah it's a great feeling to get a nice shot. I have the 70-300 and the moon doesn't take up too much space on the image; I've read you need a 800 mm or more to get a nice shot without a lot of cropping. What was mentioned here was to get the moon at different phases so that it shows crater details, which is what I've tried but it came out a little blurry so I'm waiting to try again.

HokieGirl - use a tripod, put the camera on center spot metering, use the lowest native ISO (probably 200) put the moon in the center (I used manual exposure and focus), put your camera on live view and use the timer. Bring a flashlight with you to see the camera's buttons if need be. Take a few shots at different shutter speeds.

Here's mine from the last full moon.

And my attempt to catch some craters

 

[timethief]

good shots.

 

[pgriz]

I know, I know, "been there done that" is coming to many minds right about now. But, it's still fun for me. So, I took a break from work and set up the tripod. Pointed the lens and shot the moon. I've been on a kick with getting moon shots the past couple days. I really wish I had more zoom I hope next year when I've got my 70-200 f/2.8 and 2xTC, I'll be able to get some really spectacular ones. These were both cropped between %150-%175 then sharpened and adjusted. EXIF on both I believe was ISO200, F9, 1/160, 200mm

They are more or less for sharing, C&C if you wish. But I'd like to see if anyone else has some moon shots from last nights moon, as well. Post away if you do!



I actually found a 3/4 moon from a couple days ago makes a more interesting shot, because it allows you to see the topography of the surface along the shadow line. The WB is off a little on this one and it's a bit softer as well... but I still like the surface texture more on the second one.



Enjoy, and lets see what you all got!

Nice shots – but be careful, it can get addictive.

A comment on exposure – the Moon is about the same distance from the Sun as is the Earth, so the amount of light reaching the Moon is about the same as for Earth, therefore the sunny-16 rule applies (you use the same exposure as you would for mid-day sun on Earth). Of course, if it is hazy, or the moon is low on the horizon, you get light loss due to Earth’s atmospheric extinction, so the exposure becomes longer, but usually, you can start using the sunny-16 rule and adjust exposure accordingly.

The Moon is interesting as a full moon, but much more interesting if you get it only partly full. Then you get the benefit of strong shadows along the terminator (the line separating light from dark on the Moon), and these shadows bring out the dramatic detail in craters and the moon mountains.

Third observation is that the Moon is again more interesting when it is low on the horizon and you get the “Moon Effect” when it looks much larger on the horizon than it does when it’s high in the sky. A neat application to use to find the best time (and best location) is to use the “Photographer’s Ephemeris”, a free downloadable application running on Adobe Air, and located here: http://stephentrainor.com/tools. This application allows you to see the times and directions of the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon, and by moving the viewing point, locate the best place to have the Sun or Moon in relation to surrounding landscape.

An example of this is below:

Another observation about shooting the moon - use your sharpest f/stop (usually around f/8-f/11 for most lenses), a tripod, and focus manually (live-view or magnified eyepiece) to get the best sharpness and results.

 

[crimbfighter]

I tried but being very new to this I failed miserably. I couldn't get my settings right. What settings did you use. I have a Nikon D3000 with a 70-300mmm VR lense.

As I mentioned above, the settings I used were ISO200, F/9, 1/160sec, 200mm. As long as it's a clear night and the moon is off the horizon, those settings should work just fine. I shoot in full manual mode, use a tripod, use a wired remote shutter release and either shoot in Live Mode or use mirror lock-up. You should be able to get a bit clearer with your 300mm reach. Make sure you turn off VR and I focus manually. It's hard with the "not so manually focusing friendly view finder. What I end up doing is getting it as close as possible, take the shot, zoom in to check focus and keep readjusting focus until I get it as close as possible. Usually takes 3-5 shots before I get the focus just right.

I know, I know, "been there done that" is coming to many minds right about now. But, it's still fun for me. So, I took a break from work and set up the tripod. Pointed the lens and shot the moon. I've been on a kick with getting moon shots the past couple days. I really wish I had more zoom I hope next year when I've got my 70-200 f/2.8 and 2xTC, I'll be able to get some really spectacular ones. These were both cropped between %150-%175 then sharpened and adjusted. EXIF on both I believe was ISO200, F9, 1/160, 200mm

They are more or less for sharing, C&C if you wish. But I'd like to see if anyone else has some moon shots from last nights moon, as well. Post away if you do!



I actually found a 3/4 moon from a couple days ago makes a more interesting shot, because it allows you to see the topography of the surface along the shadow line. The WB is off a little on this one and it's a bit softer as well... but I still like the surface texture more on the second one.



Enjoy, and lets see what you all got!

Nice shots – but be careful, it can get addictive.

A comment on exposure – the Moon is about the same distance from the Sun as is the Earth, so the amount of light reaching the Moon is about the same as for Earth, therefore the sunny-16 rule applies (you use the same exposure as you would for mid-day sun on Earth). Of course, if it is hazy, or the moon is low on the horizon, you get light loss due to Earth’s atmospheric extinction, so the exposure becomes longer, but usually, you can start using the sunny-16 rule and adjust exposure accordingly.

The Moon is interesting as a full moon, but much more interesting if you get it only partly full. Then you get the benefit of strong shadows along the terminator (the line separating light from dark on the Moon), and these shadows bring out the dramatic detail in craters and the moon mountains.

Third observation is that the Moon is again more interesting when it is low on the horizon and you get the “Moon Effect” when it looks much larger on the horizon than it does when it’s high in the sky. A neat application to use to find the best time (and best location) is to use the “Photographer’s Ephemeris”, a free downloadable application running on Adobe Air, and located here: http://stephentrainor.com/tools. This application allows you to see the times and directions of the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon, and by moving the viewing point, locate the best place to have the Sun or Moon in relation to surrounding landscape.

An example of this is below:

Another observation about shooting the moon - use your sharpest f/stop (usually around f/8-f/11 for most lenses), a tripod, and focus manually (live-view or magnified eyepiece) to get the best sharpness and results.

You're right, it gets addicting... Love you shot, beautiful! You make good points too, thanks!

 

[DerekSalem]

Heavily edited shot (100% crop and some PP to enhance it) but here's a shot I took at a football game last week. I was just sitting in the stands, looked up, and snapped this off. Eh.