Moon Shot Night Focus

sanderso · Apr 28, 2011

Hi all:

Below is my first attempt at time lapse moon shot. The experience showed me how much I don't know.

Here's the story.....Was at a weekend beach wedding (as guest) and was returning from the bar, was happy, and my thought immediately went to pressing a shutter...the full moon was at hand. Thought I'd try to capture the moon shot. Of course, I'd never done it before...no problem I thought. (hey...why not?) Through the brain-fog, I realized that didn't have the knowledge for the shot (certainly wasn't prepared for it!).

The basic problem (among others?) was focus. I had been shooting Manual, RAW and AF for much of the weekend so, I propped up the camera on my bag on a stable counter (didn't have my tripod...who needs it at the bar?) pulled out my remote shutter release and started shooting. I varied the exposure to obtain what seemed to be an OK shot, exposure-wise (based only on the camera LCD -- I usually never use the LCD for shot feedback but I had nothing else.) Of course, shooting RAW I realized later I could brighten it up in LR.

However, during the shooting, I looked more closely at the LCD it seemed OOF. Alarmed that it was OOF, and thinking there wasn't enough light for the AF, I switched from AF to M and, since I couldn't determine the focus through the viewfinder, I tried taking pix at various focus points (w/o changing other exposure settings). It was hit or miss as to getting it right. Unfortunately, it missed....the best is below. (Yes, I know it's dark...lightening it only hightlights the OOF.)

It was taken w my 18-105 and, I don't recall if the VR was on or off. If VR was on, would it have caused this OOF problem?

Should I have been at a smaller aperture...say f22? Should I have had an EV bias = -1?

The pic was at 4 secs/f4.0/ISO=200 with no EV bias.

I welcome any thoughts/suggestions on what I could have done differently to obtain a focused moon shot.

Thanks all.

Biggs88 · Apr 28, 2011

The photo is one of the worst i have ever seen!

Why did you buy a remote shutter release?!?!?!?!? You do not know how to get a good exposure, let alone how to get the photo in focus!!!! Stop spending money and go to the library.

Bitter Jeweler · Apr 28, 2011

You have to make two exposures. One for the Moon, and one for the foreground, and merge them. It's not just about focus, it about not being able to properly expose for both, which are different lighting situations.

Both of these were 2 merged images.

sanderso · Apr 28, 2011

Biggs88 said:
The photo is one of the worst i have ever seen!

Why did you buy a remote shutter release?!?!?!?!? You do not know how to get a good exposure, let alone how to get the photo in focus!!!! Stop spending money and go to the library.

Biggs: Thnx....couldn't agree more on all your points! I think the early bar-work "inspired" me to attempt this shot w/o the brain tools. (remote was only $16...a no-brainer)

Bitter: Thnx...was trying to avoid such post work. In either case, how can I ensure focus on the shot(s)? (nice pix BTW...especially #2).

Romeolo888 · Apr 28, 2011

when you say 2 merged images, do you mean two seperate shots that were taken then merged together? Silly question it seems, I know, but I am also a starter at this

KmH · Apr 28, 2011

Auto focus doesn't work well in low light, and with a dimly lit scene it is hard to see any detail in a camera viewfinder to manually focus accurately. Understanding Camera Autofocus

You can use a flashlight to illumunate the near parts of a scene so auto focus can work accurately. Once focused, you move the switch to put the camera in manual focus mode, so it won't re-focus when you press the shutter button again to take the shot.

The moon is very bright compared to the dark night sky. The image sensor in your camera cannot capture that broad a dynamic range: Understanding Dynamic Range in Digital Photography

kundalini · Apr 28, 2011

With your lens extended to 105mm, you're not going to be able to see much of the moons surface to check focus. So set focus on infinity and back off ever so slightly.

For exposing the moon, I'd suggest to set ISO to your base, aperture in the f/5.6 to f/11 range and the shutter speed in the 1/160s to 1/320s, depending on its phase.

sanderso · Apr 28, 2011

KmH said:
Auto focus doesn't work well in low light, and with a dimly lit scene it is hard to see any detail in a camera viewfinder to manually focus accurately. Understanding Camera Autofocus

You can use a flashlight to illumunate the near parts of a scene so auto focus can work accurately. Once focused, you move the switch to put the camera in manual focus mode, so it won't re-focus when you press the shutter button again to take the shot.

The moon is very bright compared to the dark night sky. The image sensor in your camera cannot capture that broad a dynamic range: Understanding Dynamic Range in Digital Photography

KmH: Thanks for the links (they're added to my resource collection). I read the AF link...it provides another (much needed) perspective. I thought of the flashlight idea since I had seen it on other TPF posts...but I didn't have one at the time.

After receiving comments here, I did a bit more looking at a) the camera to see the AF settings I used and b) the manual (a novel idea!).

I was on AF-C mode (servo) mode (single point) which allows a shot to be taken regardless of focus. The setting was a hold-over from earlier in the day. I suspect I could/should have been in AF-S (single shot) mode which only releases the shutter when in focus.

Also, and most important, the viewfinder has a BIG "O" on the bottom when in focus (DUH!). Since I usually am in some form of AF, I typically have paid no attention to the BIG "O". Had I paid attention to my 10th reading of the manual, I would have known to use the BIG "O" as the way to focus the pic (2 x DUH!).

It's been said many times on TPF to read the manual. Couldn't agree more....I'm on to my 11th read!

Now to wait for the next full moon to try combining images.

Thanks all!

sanderso · Apr 28, 2011

kundalini said:
With your lens extended to 105mm, you're not going to be able to see much of the moons surface to check focus. So set focus on infinity and back off ever so slightly.

For exposing the moon, I'd suggest to set ISO to your base, aperture in the f/5.6 to f/11 range and the shutter speed in the 1/160s to 1/320s, depending on its phase.

Thanks kundalini!

Bitter Jeweler · Apr 28, 2011

Romeolo888 said:
when you say 2 merged images, do you mean two seperate shots that were taken then merged together? Silly question it seems, I know, but I am also a starter at this

Yes, basically cut and pasted the moon.

mwcfarms · Apr 28, 2011

Kundalini had the right idea for you. I used the same lens to get this shot earlier this winter.

I would have been around F14 or F16 mabye I dont have an exif reader on my laptop upstairs but it should all still be there. Not the best moon shot but it was ok for my first try.

sanderso · Apr 28, 2011

mwcfarms said:
Kundalini had the right idea for you. I used the same lens to get this shot earlier this winter.

I would have been around F14 or F16 mabye I dont have an exif reader on my laptop upstairs but it should all still be there. Not the best moon shot but it was ok for my first try.

Nice pic! (Didn't see exif data on it.) Did you AF, or set to infinity per Kandalini's suggestion?

mwcfarms · Apr 28, 2011

I did exactly as kundalini suggested. I am trying to install a bloody exif reader on this laptop but opanda and firefox are not cooperating.

Oh and thats obviously a heavy crop as well.

sanderso · Apr 28, 2011

mwcfarms said:
I did exactly as kundalini suggested. I am trying to install a bloody exif reader on this laptop but opanda and firefox are not cooperating.

Thnx. Good luck w the reader....opanda installed w/o problem on my laptop. I wouldn't expect you'd have any surprises...although I'm on IE not Firefox.