My slightly failed moon attempt...

JeffieLove

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So I borrowed (with permission) my mom's camera since she doesn't want the lens taken on and off of her camera to attempt to "shoot the moon" (my 3 year old had a blast with that.. he kept asking me if i was going to shoot the moon lol)... So, here goes :)

These were shot with a Canon XS, Tamron 18-200mm lens, and with a variety of settings...

1. 1/4, f/6.3, 200mm
4448607121_be4fe8875a_m.jpg


2. 1s, f/6.3, 200mm
4448607083_ffb257c021_m.jpg


3. 1/125s (handheld), f/6.3, 200mm
4449384024_69fdb2c529_m.jpg


4. 1/125 (handheld), f/6.3, 200mm
4449384000_db2a07c392_m.jpg


After looking closer at the handhelds, I'm thinking that maybe if I had them on the tripod they may have actually worked... and now I'm bummed lol
 
The trick with the moon is that its one time when the camera meter gets totally fooled and fails. Essentially your first few shots show this very well - the camera "sees" all the black and instantly assumes that the shot needs to be exposed for dark conditions - so you get a longer exposure time and a wider aperture - and the result is that the moon totaly overexposes because it is lit by sunlight and is actually rather bright.

This is one time when its best to shift into full manual mode and experiment. A tripod really helps with the moon - you can give yourself a nice sharp aperture like f8 - set the ISO right low to 100 and then let the shutter speed be what it is (experiment and review to find the best time). If, when you review shots on the camera, you use the histogram display (read manual for how to turn this on and it should also give you a breif idea of what the histogram is showing) you can easily tell how many stops a shot is over or under exposed by or if its just right.
More on histograms here:
Reading Histograms-- Part I
Histograms - Part II
I strongly recomend learning to use the histogram when you review shots as its (what I consider) one of the most powerfull aspects of digital camera shooting - and if you have time for a second shot its very invaluble for geting a truer idea of the shot rather than trying to guess how well its exposed based on the screen image on the LCD
 
I did use a tripod for the first 2... I was in manual at one point, but I also switched back and forth a few times into shutter priority or aperture priority...

I tried using a smaller aperture (bigger f/#) at some points and I tried using slower and faster shutter speeds... I played around with it a lot, but I was using the self timer and my mom didn't know what it was so it scared her and she told me to put it away because she thought I was breaking it...

I'll have that sigma lens within the next 2 weeks so I'll be getting some better shots soon :)

I just wanted to share my first attempt...

However, I kinda do like the effect on the 2nd shot ;) lol
 

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