La Luna...a Moon shot for C&C

Barking Mad · Jul 9, 2009

This is the very first shot I have ever got of the moon that's turned out halfway decently...meaning that it didn't end up being little more than a pin prick of white against pitch black. And, I took this without a tripod. I was in a rush and totally forgot to grab it before I left the other night.

I'm pleased that it actually resembles the moon and not a golf ball against a black blanket, but I'm not real thrilled that it appears grainy (could have been the lack of a tripod or the ISO). I had just set the ISO to 100 before taking the shot, but for some reason it switched to 400. I just picked up the Sony a350 that I'm using and maybe I missed something, but am I wrong in thinking that a lower ISO would have produced less noise?

As always, thanks in advance for your thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

La Luna, framed in part by the Bath Bridge, ME. (resized for upload to Flckr)

ETA: EXIF data-
Camera: Sony DSLR-A350 Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160) Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 300 mm ISO Speed: 400 Flash: Off, Did not fire
File Size: 68 kB File Type: JPEG MIME Type: image/jpeg Image Width: 700 Image Height: 503 Encoding Process: Baseline DCT, Huffman coding Bits Per Sample: 8 Color Components: 3 X-Resolution: 1 Y-Resolution: 1 Software: Picasa 3.0 Date and Time (Original): 2009:07:05 21:30:07 Metering Mode: Multi-segment Focal Length In35mm Format: 450 mm Image Unique ID: 0157c29a405170d437701390f0cbd3f6 Compression: JPEG (old-style)

Bitter Jeweler · Jul 9, 2009

Nice pic. I like it.
Yes, a lower ISO should give you much less noise.

03civicdx · Jul 9, 2009

Bitter Jeweler said:
Nice pic. I like it.
Yes, a lower ISO should give you much less noise.

x2

Barking Mad · Jul 9, 2009

Thanks Bitter Jeweler and 03civicdx!

I think I am going to have to once again, sit down with that damn 'book of words' (what my British hubby calls the Instruction Manual) and figure out how the hell to keep the ISO at what I set it at. I never had a problem with that when it came to my a100, so it must be something that's different about the a350 that I've not caught onto yet.

Oh well, I'll try again next month when La Luna is fat and round and ready for her close up.

03civicdx · Jul 9, 2009

i would try and ISO 100 and did you use a tripod?

Barking Mad · Jul 9, 2009

03civicdx said:
i would try and ISO 100 and did you use a tripod?

Originally before I started shooting, I set it to ISO 100, but when I looked at the EXIF data, I realized it switched. I have no idea how that happened. And nope, I totally forgot the tripod when I left the house. I know...that was my first mistake.

I just noticed that the ISO didn't stay at 100 for my fireworks shots either. That combined with not having my tripod are probably why all of my shots, including the moon, came out so crappy.

I need to figure out why that damned thing is automatically changing to a different ISO.