Shooting the Moon

ZakAttack

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I want to be able to take awesome shots of the moon and stars someday. As of right now this is the best I can do. PLEASE tell me what will make this better!!

MOON001.jpg
 
oldnavy170 said:
I know this just from being on this forum.......TRIPOD, TRIPOD, TRIPOD!!!! :)

:thumbup: good advice.
 
The moon is directly lit by the sun...so the sunny 16 rule should apply...or at least give you a place to start with your exposure. If you don't know that rule...look it up.
 
(1) Tripod.
(2) Lower the ISO and do a longer exposure, now that you have a tripod.
(3) Toy with the exposure time (assuming you're digital) to figure out one that is right for that moon phase. On a full moon, a 1/250 sec shot is usually good (don't know the f-stop for that off the top of my head, though).
 
Your image is over exposed and has camera shake. Also the focal length of the lens is too short to bring up much detail. Make a note of Mike's input above. Shooting the moon is like shooting at high noon on a sunny day. Ignore your meter. But it takes a long, long lens. The darn thing is a long way away.
 
I have had good luck with these:


Exp ISO f/stop
1/125 100 5.6
1/250 100 8
1/350 100 3.5
 
oldnavy170 said:
I know this just from being on this forum.......TRIPOD, TRIPOD, TRIPOD!!!! :)

Now that's just silly.

I took this handheld.

IMG_9511.sized.jpg


Full size at http://photo.cardork.com/albums/Landscapes-Nature/IMG_9511.jpg

Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Image Date: 2006:10:06 20:07:11
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 200.0mm
CCD Width: 6.58mm
Exposure Time: 0.0004 s (1/2500)
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO equiv: 200
White Balance: Auto
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
 
Reverend said:
Now that's just silly.

I took this handheld.

Full size at http://photo.cardork.com/albums/Landscapes-Nature/IMG_9511.jpg

Focal Length: 200.0mm
Exposure Time: 0.0004 s (1/2500)
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO equiv: 200

Not everyone has such a fast lens. For slower lenses, a longer exposure is necessary and you can get just as good a shot. And at high magnification, it's very difficult for most people to hold a camera steady enough to have no blurring even at 1/250 sec. So getting a cheap little tripod for this is not "just silly."
 
astrostu said:
Not everyone has such a fast lens. For slower lenses, a longer exposure is necessary and you can get just as good a shot. And at high magnification, it's very difficult for most people to hold a camera steady enough to have no blurring even at 1/250 sec. So getting a cheap little tripod for this is not "just silly."
I understand that, but you can also crank up the ISO to help with the exposure time.
 
Reverend said:
I understand that, but you can also crank up the ISO to help with the exposure time.

This is another case where, in my experience, I would not recommend upping the ISO. Since you're effectively looking at a very bright object against a black background, upping the ISO even a bit will usually bring out quite a bit more noise in the black background (though this could be relatively easily PhotoShopped out). So again, if you can afford to spend $30, I recommend getting a tripod, cranking down the ISO to minimum, opening up the aperture most of the way, and taking a longer exposure.
 
astrostu said:
This is another case where, in my experience, I would not recommend upping the ISO. Since you're effectively looking at a very bright object against a black background, upping the ISO even a bit will usually bring out quite a bit more noise in the black background (though this could be relatively easily PhotoShopped out). So again, if you can afford to spend $30, I recommend getting a tripod, cranking down the ISO to minimum, opening up the aperture most of the way, and taking a longer exposure.
Point well taken....I hate it when I'm proven wrong....dammit! lol :D
 
Like everyone else said..TRIPOD......exposure at 100iso is generally around !/250 and f8...surprisingly fast considering its a night shot, but that moon is bright!! a long exposure will only give you a glowing ball!
 
astrostu said:
Not everyone has such a fast lens. For slower lenses, a longer exposure is necessary and you can get just as good a shot. And at high magnification, it's very difficult for most people to hold a camera steady enough to have no blurring even at 1/250 sec. So getting a cheap little tripod for this is not "just silly."

This statement furter substantiates myth which I hold untrue that the quality of the equipment isn't important to making quality images. But this being said, I think your moon is too centralized to be as exciting as it could be.

The composition employed by Reverend in his example is perfect
 

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