Moon shoot issues

[Tight Knot]

Hi all, I tried to shoot the moon when it was full, and in the first few shots I got a mirror effect, which I realized was because I had a filter on my camera. So I took the filter off, and no matter how many times I tried to shoot again, all I got was a bright ball in the sky, I couldn't get the moon to show clearly at all. Any suggestions?
The camera was on a tripod, I used a 55-250mm lens focal length at 250mm.

1. With the filter

2. Without the filter.
Shot at 3200 ISO, shutter speed 1/60th, f/5.6. focal length 250mm on a 55-250mm lens.

 

[marmots]

for one you had your iso super high...

im a little confused... if you know what your settings are/do, then how do you not know how to fix this

any way, lower iso, higher shutter-speed, and smaller aperture

here's one i did an extreme crop on

 

[Wesche]

Try lowering the ISO, and increasing shutter speed.

 

[Light Artisan]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

 

[Tight Knot]

for one you had your iso super high...

im a little confused... if you know what your settings are/do, then how do you not know how to fix this

any way, lower iso, higher shutter-speed, and smaller aperture

here's one i did an extreme crop on

Thats a beautiful shot. What lens and settings did you use?
As far as your confusion, imagine mine :blushing:. This is what "a little bit of knowledge is dangerous" means. I've never tried moon shots before, and couldn't figure out what to do. Oh well, I guess I'll try again next time. At least I now have learned one way NOT to take a photo of the moon.:mrgreen:

 

[Wesche]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

Im no expert but that will be way to dark

 

[OrionsByte]

If you're using your meter to figure out your exposure, make sure you use spot metering, or else your camera will think all that black sky needs to be properly exposed. The moon's actually pretty bright and doesn't need a lot of exposure.

 

[Tight Knot]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

Sounds great Light, I really appreciate the actual settings to try.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Tight Knot]

If you're using your meter to figure out your exposure, make sure you use spot metering, or else your camera will think all that black sky needs to be properly exposed. The moon's actually pretty bright and doesn't need a lot of exposure.

AHA!! Excellent point. Thanks:thumbup:

 

[Tight Knot]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

Im no expert but that will be way to dark

What would you recommend?

 

[Nijay]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

Im no expert but that will be way to dark

I've done mine at even less exposure and it works out pretty well. The key is spot metering. A full moon is very very bright and its really easy to wash out all the details by overexposing.

Edit: For something less than a full moon, I'd imagine those setting given will be pretty good. I've only tried a full moon.

 

[Vinny]

For a moon shot use a low ISO due to noise. Use spot metering, center spot, center the moon on that spot and take the reading. Use live view or any other way to lock up the mirror and use either a remote release or timer on the camera to trigger the shutter. A full moon won't give you craters, you need to have a shadow on the moon for craters.

I did the above for this shot

 

[OrionsByte]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

Im no expert but that will be way to dark

Think of the sun as an off-camera flash and the moon as a reflector. Sure, you'll need a lot of exposure to snap a photo of an object in moonlight, but the moon itself is pretty bright when you're pointed right at it.

 

[Studio7Four]

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.

Im no expert but that will be way to dark

Believe it or not, the light reflecting off the moon is basically the same as shooting in daylight. In astronomical terms the moon is essentially the same distance from the sun as is the Earth, and the distance between the Earth and moon is negligible. Just because there isn't much light coming from the "scene" as a whole - the entire night sky - doesn't mean that there isn't enough light coming from your subject, the moon. An appropriate analogy is lighting a subject to get a black background. You properly light and expose for the subject (1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 seems reasonable, no?) and control your light so that the background is underlit enough.

 

[Tight Knot]

For a moon shot use a low ISO due to noise. Use spot metering, center spot, center the moon on that spot and take the reading. Use live view or any other way to lock up the mirror and use either a remote release or timer on the camera to trigger the shutter. A full moon won't give you craters, you need to have a shadow on the moon for craters.

I did the above for this shot

Thanks Vinny, nice shot,
All sounds like solid good advice, and now I've also learned about the shadow/crater relationship.