Frustrated. Photographing Moon

mrs.hankIII · Apr 15, 2014

I know most of my issue comes from using my 18-55mm kit lens, but as of now that's all I have. I'm using a Canon Rebel t3i in full manual settings. f11 iso200. The night before I was shooting with an iso100 and I don't see a difference. I'm set up on a tripod. They just look...bad...to me. Any suggestions, thoughts, tips would be great. I'm entirely new to this and this is actually my first time even messing with manual settings so I'm still lost as to what does what.

This was tonight, I zoomed in with my editing software and cropped, no other editing.

This is the same picture just not zoomed with the editing software. I have my lens zoomed out as far as possible and realize I'm not going to have much more luck without an actual telephoto lens

And some from last night that I'm okay with. Still not thrilled

I understand I'm limited with the lens I'm using but I feel that there is something I could do to make it better. I'm open to trying anything. I just feel stuck.

ecphoto · Apr 15, 2014

mrs.hankIII said:
I know most of my issue comes from using my 18-55mm kit lens, but as of now that's all I have. I'm using a Canon Rebel t3i in full manual settings. f11 iso200. The night before I was shooting with an iso100 and I don't see a difference. I'm set up on a tripod. They just look...bad...to me. Any suggestions, thoughts, tips would be great. I'm entirely new to this and this is actually my first time even messing with manual settings so I'm still lost as to what does what.

This was tonight, I zoomed in with my editing software and cropped, no other editing.

This is the same picture just not zoomed with the editing software. I have my lens zoomed out as far as possible and realize I'm not going to have much more luck without an actual telephoto lens

And some from last night that I'm okay with. Still not thrilled

I understand I'm limited with the lens I'm using but I feel that there is something I could do to make it better. I'm open to trying anything. I just feel stuck.

Your focus is a little fuzzy. Did you use a release cable and turn on the mirror lock up? Your lens is going to make it near impossible to get a good enough shot. Your going to need a 300mm or more to make a good image. I took this one with a 200mm and I had to crop extensively.

I would also recommend f16-18 for such an exposure.

minicoop1985 · Apr 15, 2014

Agreed on the lens. I had to crop like crazy on a 70-210. The T3i should have the resolution to crop a fair degree.

Desi · Apr 16, 2014

I think you did great for the lens you are using. You just don't have the reach that you need at 55mm. You can try sharpening or increasing the clarity to add more definition to these shots.

Braineack · Apr 16, 2014

I don't understand how you expect any better results using a wide angle lens to shoot the moon.

that moon is approx. 0.0016% of your frame. Or roughly 1/40th of a megapixel (about 28,600 pixels).

Or visually:

astroNikon · Apr 16, 2014

yes, as mentioned, longer lens
and mirror lockup (and make sure you are not walking around the camera which is on a tripod)
use a remote release
a really steady tripod
manual focus

that's the easy part

you then have to make sure the sky is totally clear
and then you need to see if you can see certain crater ridges which will tell you if it really is kinda clear from the earths atmosphere to the moon.

If I recall, 900mm seems to be a good focal length to capture a full size image without cropping

mrs.hankIII · Apr 16, 2014

Like I stated multiple times in the OP, I UNDERSTAND I'm not going to get magnificent results with the lens I'm using, but being an absolute raw beginner that barely understands how the manual settings work, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to make it look just a little bit better. Thank you for the tip of using f16-18 exposure, I'll give that a shot tonight! Moon should still be nice and full like last night! I was definitely set up on my tripod, but I do need to purchase a better one as this one is cheap.

How do I crop with the actual camera? I was cropping with editing software. I'm sure if I pull my manual out it will explain? I'll grab it and read through it again. It gets a bit overwhelming haha. Fortunately, I'm really loving this whole photography hobby thing. I gave up the horse I had for 8 years for this camera and hobby. I don't understand any of this mirror lockup stuff haha. Back to the drawing board to research!

I also have a question about a good beginning telephoto lens. I'm right now looking into the 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II lens for wildlife and landscape shots. Anyone have any opinions on this or have suggestions for something along that line? I prefer IS, but with the tripod it's not absolutely necessary. I'd like to keep it at $300 or less.

I shot this with my husband going 45mph down a country road, through my passenger side window. I'm quit thrilled with this camera

mrs.hankIII · Apr 16, 2014

...and now looking through everyone else's stuff I feel like I'm putting out junk. Oy. Gonna go hide now haha.

astroNikon · Apr 16, 2014

mrs.hankIII said:
...and now looking through everyone else's stuff I feel like I'm putting out junk. Oy. Gonna go hide now haha.

I wouldn't worry about what other people have. This forum has some fabulous photographers who have been at it for years and years and decades in their various disciplines. And many have tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and uncounted knowledge and skill.

It takes time to improve and get better. You have to start somewhere and you have a nice camera and good ideas.

Desi · Apr 16, 2014

As a raw beginner, as you say....you might enjoy reading Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure. It is an easy read with lot of pictures.

The Mirror-Up function eliminates the vibration that you get from the mirror slapping up and down. Not all cameras have that function.

For the purpose of shooting the moon: you want to use the aperture that is sharpest for your lens. Usually this is around f8 or f11. There penalty for using smaller apertures is that you need to use a slower shutter speed or a higher ISO. For a bright full moon, it is like taking a daylight shot. Usually I use f9 at about 1/200 second ISO 200. The higher shutter speed allows a decent shot hand-held, though a tripod will definitely give you better results. Choose an ISO and aperture and then fuss with your shutter speed until you get the results that you want.

The full moon is getting direct light and is somewhat featureless. Waxing or waning moons are more interesting as the tangential light brings out shadows and allows you to see the craters.

See the difference:

Eclipse of a FULL moon:

Blood Moon #1 by Desi595, on Flickr

Waxing moon:

DSC_0529.jpg by Desi595, on Flickr

Hope this helps.

Edit: Not sure why, but I can't find the BB codes on Flickr today, so I'm not having any luck posting those pictures to show you.....OK, figured in out. Click on share and then click on the little pin.

mrs.hankIII · Apr 16, 2014

Those are beautiful, Desi! I have no idea how to control my shutter speed so that's something else I have to mess with and learn. With a crazy 2 year old boy running around, I panic a lot when my camera is in his reach so my learning is mostly at night (a $600 camera is a big deal for broke me), hence the moon shots. I'll see if the library can order that book in for me, thank you for the suggestions. I appreciate it!

Astro, thank you, makes me feel a bit better. I've been really bummed out lately over this. I've always wanted a nice camera and lens, since I was in middle school. And now at 25 I finally convinced the hubby to let me spend the money to have it and now feel like I wasted money. I get a lot of decent shots of my kiddo, but I think it's just because he's cute.

Justintoxicated · Apr 16, 2014

mrs.hankIII said:
Those are beautiful, Desi! I have no idea how to control my shutter speed so that's something else I have to mess with and learn. With a crazy 2 year old boy running around, I panic a lot when my camera is in his reach so my learning is mostly at night (a $600 camera is a big deal for broke me), hence the moon shots. I'll see if the library can order that book in for me, thank you for the suggestions. I appreciate it!

Astro, thank you, makes me feel a bit better. I've been really bummed out lately over this. I've always wanted a nice camera and lens, since I was in middle school. And now at 25 I finally convinced the hubby to let me spend the money to have it and now feel like I wasted money. I get a lot of decent shots of my kiddo, but I think it's just because he's cute.

I kept trying the above thinking I should get a decent shot, instead I had to use low iso of 100, low aperture (F4), and a 1 second exposure. My camera makes way to much noise above ISO 100 to get a good shot. I guess I'm doing exactly the opposite of what was described above. Thank goodness for post processing to sharpen things up. BTW the moon is a very difficult subject to photograph, I can't get any detail at all when it is supper bright regardless of my fstop for some reason. (seems I should be able to go low ISO and high fstop to get something). I also prefer to manual focus when shooting the moon, once you get it set right you won't have to mess with it much more as time goes on

. Shoot in RAW!

I believe my fstop should typically be higher for maximum sharpness with this lens (50-200mm) but It wasn't working out for the moon shot, so I will say this, take ALOT of pictures and try different techniques. Also I did not use a cable, I just set a timer to make sure there was no movement of the tripod, cable or anything.

I'm also a beginner because I don't take enough pictures to be otherwise. I compensate by taking a lot of shots of the same thing

Again, I would not suggest taking a picture of a full moon, unless it is blood moon eclipse or something, it's way harder to get detail to show up, (at least for me it is).

BloodMoon Eclipse by Glamisduner, on Flickr

robbins.photo · Apr 16, 2014

mrs.hankIII said:
...and now looking through everyone else's stuff I feel like I'm putting out junk. Oy. Gonna go hide now haha.

Ok, well don't get discouraged. As I told a dear friend earlier this evening when the topic came up, photography is a journey, not a specific destination. It's not important where you are right now in the journey, as long as tomorrow or the next day or the day after that you get a little further down the road. That's all that matters.

Also astrophotography is probably one of the more difficult things you can try to do with a camera, so don't worry if your first efforts have some rough egdes here and there, it's not an easy shot by any means.

Justintoxicated · Apr 17, 2014

Desi said:
As a raw beginner, as you say....you might enjoy reading Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure. It is an easy read with lot of pictures.

The Mirror-Up function eliminates the vibration that you get from the mirror slapping up and down. Not all cameras have that function.

For the purpose of shooting the moon: you want to use the aperture that is sharpest for your lens. Usually this is around f8 or f11. There penalty for using smaller apertures is that you need to use a slower shutter speed or a higher ISO. For a bright full moon, it is like taking a daylight shot. Usually I use f9 at about 1/200 second ISO 200. The higher shutter speed allows a decent shot hand-held, though a tripod will definitely give you better results. Choose an ISO and aperture and then fuss with your shutter speed until you get the results that you want.

The full moon is getting direct light and is somewhat featureless. Waxing or waning moons are more interesting as the tangential light brings out shadows and allows you to see the craters.

See the difference:

Eclipse of a FULL moon: Blood Moon #1 by Desi595, on Flickr

Hope this helps.

Edit: Not sure why, but I can't find the BB codes on Flickr today, so I'm not having any luck posting those pictures to show you.....OK, figured in out. Click on share and then click on the little pin.

mrs.hankIII said:

Those are some nice huge pics, Another cheat of mine is to learn some post processing software like lightroom. It's very easy to use, again I'm not pro I just move sliders around until I achieve the effect I want.
(couldn't do as much with the small one since I don't have the RAW and the existing compression removed most hidden detail but it should give you an idea, although it actually to me looks worse now heh)