moon photos

I've been trying to capture a nice clear shot of the moon, but no success yet.

There are some trees in the foreground with the moon in the sky above them - no

branches blocking the moon. The camera I'm using is the point-and-shoot Canon

A570IS. I tried using F8.0 with shutter speeds from 1" to 10", spot metering,

evaluative (with the moon being the center of the photo)...but the trees show

up fuzzy most of the time, and with longer shutter speeds, the moon becomes

overexposed, and loses is clarity. ISO was set at 80...I figured with the

longer shutter speeds I was using, I didn't need a high ISO. Any hints? Much

appreciated!<div></div>

Use the Sunny 16 rule...(at f16 use the reciprocal of the ISO for shutter speed)...generally you want the shutter speed to be no longer than 1/30 sec (I usually use 1/250 or faster) because of the movement of the moon. Also use a tripod and cable release if possible. There's lots of threads on how to shoot the moon.

Your camera doesn't have (and indeed, pretty much no camera has) the dynamic range to deal with that. Meaning, the moon is just a big old shiny reflector that's handing you a high quality bunch of photons hot off of the sun. It's much brighter than you think it is. Your camera, of course is doing its best guess about what you're trying to shoot. If you expose correctly for the moon, there simply won't be enough light on your local trees and whatnot. But if you expose well for the trees, well, you'll get exactly what you've shown above. Most images like this that work well are actually composites from multiple exposures shot to capture each piece of the image to its best advantage.

I like this better, actually. Lots of threads, lots more sharp moons. This captures the spirit of the moon more to me.

Actually the loony eleven rule is the way to go. At f11 use the reciprocal of the ISO for shutter speed if the moon is full.

 

I was given this chart or something like it

 

Full Moon 1/250th sec at f/11 at ISO 250

Gibbous Moon 1/125th sec at f/11 at ISO 250

Quarter Moon 1/60th sec at f/11 at ISO 250

Wide Crescent 1/30th sec at f/11 at ISO 250

Thin Crescent 1/15th sec at f/11 at ISO 250

Earthshine 2 sec at f/2.8 at ISO 250

 

As Matt was saying the best thing to do is a multiple exposure shot.

Out of sheer curiosity I just have to ask. Why ask your question under a pseudonym rather than use your real name? There's no shame in not knowing how to properly expose the moon. Everybody's a beginner at the beginning.

Frank, it's not that I'm ashamed of being a beginner at this - I usually am picky as to what kind of personal information I put on the web, that's all. I'm very much getting into this hobby though, as much as I can with my new point-and-shoot. I've learned that you don't need Photoshop to create captivating compositions!

Shot this at 1/125th, f5.6, 50iso, with a 28-135 zoom at 85mm, hand held.

Anthony, what kind of camera do you have? Unfortunately, my camera doesn't even have a zoom level indicator, so I just made sure I was somewhere around 2x to 3x. I tried with those exposure values, with evaluative, center, and spot metering, but no luck. The lowest ISO I was able to use was 80. It's looking real nice tonight too. Full moon tomorrow. Right now, the moon is a tiny center of this gigantic circular glow in a perfect circle around it.

All these questions...you an agent or somethin! :)

 

A Canon 5D.

 

Try meterering the glow and then open up 2/3rds.

All these questions...you an agent or somethin! :)

 

A Canon 5D.

 

Try meterering the glow and then open up 2/3rds.

Unless you are using a long, long lens you will probably be disappointed in any lunar images. The diameter of the moon's image is approximately 1mm for every 100mm of focal length. This is also the reason that spot metering is practically useless for any lens but a super telephoto. Also with long lenses, short shutter speeds are mandatory: The moon "moves" through is own diameter in about two minutes, so significant blurring would occur if the exposure is longer than a few seconds.

Sometimes, if you catch it right at dawn.....

 

(Canon EOS 300D, tripod shot, exposure data gone.)<div></div>

You mean like <p>

<a href=http://www.photo.net/photo/6470041>

This?</a>

</p>

<br><br>ISO 100, 1/200 sec., f/5.6, focal length 400, tripod, remote <br><br>shutter, Crop, unsharp mask, lots of shots (to choose the <br><br>best), WB 4400 (adjust as needed). I think this was a day or <br><br>so after a full moon giving a slightly darker edge to one <br><br>side helping bring out some of the craters it was also rather <br><br>bright so you'll just have to expose as needed. It looks like <br><br>you may have some cloud coverage there or fog or something <br><br>you need it clear out. If you want to expose the trees as <br><br>well try HDR with multiple exposers with the moon and the <br><br>same shot when the moon passes, just experiment. Well Good <br><br>Luck! Shay.

I tend to shoot the moon on days when the moonrise is between 30 minutes to 1 hour after sunset. This usually allows just enough ambient daylight to provide a balance between the moon and the landscape.

 

On nights when the moonrise is very late after sunset, you get silhouetted trees or a burnt-out moon depending on what you expose for. If the moonrise is before or just after sunset, there is too much light in the sky and the moon doesn't stand out.

 

Check out one of the meteorological calendars on the web that will tell you both sunset and moonrise times.