Moon photos

[camarochick]

This is my first post here about my photos. I just wanted to get some comments. I was walking my pug and realized that the moon was a full moon and the clouds were amazing after the storm. It's a breezy 74 degrees now so the weather was right.

I just have a Canon EOS XSi with a 75-300mm Canon EF lens from my old 35mm EOS Rebel G and a UV filter. I put the camera on a tripod and shot in manual mode with a ISO of 400, f/5.6, and .6sec. I am not sure what those numbers mean but I know what I got out of my camera and am still learning.

Here is a link to my photos...moon photos (http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11109-Moon)
and here is one of my favs that I shrunk down to post here. They look way better in full size. It may be just my computer but the clouds look funny here and on my site.
http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/Moon-Photos/IMG8616-Copy/700494163_oKYgz-S.jpg (http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/Moon-Photos/IMG8616-Copy/700494163_oKYgz-S.jpg)

Some photos are a little bright because of the clouds and others are just amazing. I would appreciate any helpful comments so I can learn and progress.

Thanks everyone.

[moose135]

Nice work, Elizabeth. The clouds do look interesting. A few tips on shooting the Moon - don't rely on your meter, it will be fooled by the dark sky and brightness of the Moon. You need to remember that what you are seeing is reflected sunlight, and you need to set your camera as if you are shooting a daylight scene.

There are a few Moon setting guides (SMer Shay Stephens had a good one, but I can't find it right now) that will give you a good starting point. You shouldn't need your ISO at 400, bring it down to 100, your aperture around f/7.1 or so, and start with a shutter speed around 1/250th and bracket from there.

And this might be a good excuse to learn a little more about your camera settings, and what they all mean. Don't hesitate to ask questions, as we we all beginners once.

I have a gallery of Moon shots (http://www.moose135photography.com/Other/Shoot-the-Moon/4370970_3hqKn/1/87768916_Vrnad) - you can view the EXIF data for an idea of my settings.

[Qarik]

camarochick, welcome.

The shot isn't really doin it for me. 1st of all it needs crop if you are emphasizing the moon! 2ndly you should post a much bigger size. There is no size limitation when you hotlink. I took a look at your gallery as well for larger shots. heh..you will also need a much longer zoom on the camera...the moon is far too small imo. Lastly many of the moon shots are overexposed. Like the previous poster mentioned..you need to spot or center weight the meter for this shot.

I hope I don't sound too discouraging.

The clouds around the moon do look very nice and dramatic though! :clap

[UmmmHowsThat]

Post the bigger ones!!

And I don't know if you need a longer zoom, because I think I did just fine with a 200mm after I cropped the hi-res.

Here's a link (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/NotoriousDUB/Nature/The%20Moon/MoonSharpenEDIT.jpg) so I don't disrupt your thread with my pic.

Keep at it though!

EDIT: Actually, after viewing my own picture, it's very clear (or not, haha) that the longer the better. Where did that image quality go!? I'll have to try again with my newer camera.

Cheers.

[moose135]

EDIT: Actually, after viewing my own picture, it's very clear (or not, haha) that the longer the better. Where did that image quality go!? I'll have to try again with my newer camera.
I have the Canon 100-400mm lens, and run it out to the far end when shooting the Moon. I wouldn't even mind a little more lens if I had it.

[craig_d]

A few tips on shooting the Moon - don't rely on your meter, it will be fooled by the dark sky and brightness of the Moon.

Not necessarily; if you are using a moderately long telephoto lens (35mm equivalent 200mm or more) you can spot-meter the moon just fine, though you probably want to expose a little more than the meter indicates. Evaluative or center-weighted metering will badly overexpose the moon because of the dark sky.

You shouldn't need your ISO at 400, bring it down to 100, your aperture around f/7.1 or so, and start with a shutter speed around 1/250th and bracket from there.

In this case, though, the moon's light was being affected by the clouds, and the long exposure not only compensated for that, but also gave the clouds a cool motion-blurred look that she wouldn't have gotten at 1/250 sec.

[craig_d]

I have the Canon 100-400mm lens, and run it out to the far end when shooting the Moon. I wouldn't even mind a little more lens if I had it.

I used to use a Tokina 80-400mm lens on a Rebel XSi, equivalent to 640mm full-frame. It made me wish for a T-mount adapter to hook the camera up to my telescope, but I've never gotten around to that.

[camarochick]

And this might be a good excuse to learn a little more about your camera settings, and what they all mean. Don't hesitate to ask questions, as we we all beginners once.
I have a gallery of Moon shots (http://www.moose135photography.com/Other/Shoot-the-Moon/4370970_3hqKn/1/87768916_Vrnad) - you can view the EXIF data for an idea of my settings. Very nice. Thanks. Looking at the photos and seeing your settings are defiantly helpful to me while learning.

In this case, though, the moon's light was being affected by the clouds, and the long exposure not only compensated for that, but also gave the clouds a cool motion-blurred look that she wouldn't have gotten at 1/250 sec.
Thanks. For some reason on here and my site they get that blurry look. When actually looking at them in Windows Photo gallery they look perfect. I kinda like the look as well.


Thanks so much everyone. As I said I am very new to all this. I have always shot in auto mode so I am trying to learn manual. The settings did change in some photos as I was playing with the settings. I knew I could get some help on here. The moon and clouds do not look like that often here in my area of FL. If the moon is out tonight I will try some more shots.

I will put a longer lens on my Christmas list along with a few other things I found while shooting a Disney lifegaurding event Sunday. For now I have just the Xsi, the 2 lens, and a uv filter. I am going to get a lens hood and a polarized filter. Sill researching flashes. I am open to any other "must haves" or "wants" to put on my list to further my knowledge.

Thanks again everyone!!!

[camarochick]

I added some cropped photos to the start of the gallery. Here are a few...
http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11109-Moon/IMG8581-Copy/702587362_Rr6tM-M.jpg
http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11109-Moon/IMG8581-Copy/702587362_Rr6tM-M.jpghttp://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11109-Moon/IMG8556-Copy/702587319_zwm6v-M.jpg

[Richard]

Elizabeth,

That last shot you posted is my favorite of all of them. The clouds are dreamy and the moon has a three-dimensional feel to it. Very nice. :thumb

Here are a few things to think about:

There are many ways of shooting the moon. You did a nice job of including the clouds, but if you want to get that exquisite detail that we see in other shots, you need to shoot on a clear night. Another style that gives nice results is to shoot when the moon is close enough to the horizon that you can also include some of what's on the ground. Torags posted a nice example (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=149160) of this recently on the Landscapes forum.
Exposure and focus are the keys to getting good shots. If you are shooting on a clear night, the light is pretty much constant, so manual mode is not difficult. As craig_d said, metering in partial or spot mode is a good idea as a starting point. But take your time. Chimp some test shots and make sure you aren't overexposing. The histogram and blinkies can be your guide.
Lose the UV filter. It won't help and may do harm.
If you are going for detail, the longer the lens the better. 300mm is OK, but the more, the merrier. For zoom lenses, the image quality is usually best if you shoot at less than the maximum focal length, but this is a tradeoff you need to experiment with.
Try to keep the shutter speed at 1/100 sec or faster. The moon moves--ok, so the earth turns--fast enough that you will get motion blur at slower speeds. .6 sec is way too slow for detail, but OK if you are going for dreamy.Hope this helps.

[camarochick]

There are many ways of shooting the moon. You did a nice job of including the clouds, but if you want to get that exquisite detail that we see in other shots, you need to shoot on a clear night.

Thanks for all the tips. Unfortunately where I live this was the one time I got to see the moon. All the other nights it has been covered with clouds. I wish we could have a clear night for me to shoot on but that's asking for a miracle. I keep checking though. Last 2 nights when the moon would have been full the sky has been nothing but clouds. I will keep trying though.

[moose135]

Unfortunately where I live this was the one time I got to see the moon...
Don't worry, you'll get another chance in about 4 weeks :D

[camarochick]

Thanks so much guys. We had a cold front come through again so I got a clear shot of the moon. I am so excited about these shots. Not the best but better than before.

I took your advise about the settings. I have been playing with the ISO and all settings the last few days and am very impressed with my camera. I did a indoor shoot the other day and did not have to use a flash!

OK, here are my new moon photos!!!! This is my favorite out of the new ones.
moon photos (http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/10225073_K9DAY#705003691_bb82j)
http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11509-Moon/IMG8798/705003691_bb82j-M.jpg

The camera put the it to F6.3 but I had it at ISO 100 and 1/60sec.

[camarochick]

Thanks again. With your settings I could shoot through the clouds and got these...

11/7/09 moon photos (http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11709-Moon/10232728_tRzJc#705524691_T5Vku)

http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11709-Moon/IMG8874/705524746_8r2rU-M.jpghttp://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11709-Moon/IMG8847/705524592_XFmhv-M.jpg

[Nikolai]

Richard,
while "horizon moon" seems larger and may indeed bring out the context, it's important to remember that you're shooting through a much thicker layer of atmosphere, hence the disortions are the greatest and the sharpness is the worst.
Yet of course, it all doesn't matter if you shoot with anything shorter than 300..400mm, as you said. I myself start get the feeling my moon shots are printable at 640mm:-) (1.4x + 400m, I don't even count 1.6 crop factor:-), and still they maybe are ok for 8x10, but hardly anything larger...

[Richard]

Richard,
while "horizon moon" seems larger and may indeed bring out the context, it's important to remember that you're shooting through a much thicker layer of atmosphere, hence the disortions are the greatest and the sharpness is the worst.
Yet of course, it all doesn't matter if you shoot with anything shorter than 300..400mm, as you said. I myself start get the feeling my moon shots are printable at 640mm:-) (1.4x + 400m, I don't even count 1.6 crop factor:-), and still they maybe are ok for 8x10, but hardly anything larger...

Yes, I understand that, but there may be other aesthetic goals besides razor sharpness and fantastic detail. Very few of us have the equipment needed to do real astrophotography, but we can get some pretty images nevertheless. Just sayin'. :deal

[Nikolai]

Yes, I understand that, but there may be other aesthetic goals besides razor sharpness and fantastic detail. Very few of us have the equipment needed to do real astrophotography, but we can get some pretty images nevertheless. Just sayin'. :deal
True, true...
Anyway, when I do wanna have a shot like "moon over horizon", I prefer a composite:
first - the "context" shot
second - long telefoto detailed shot of the moon, which you can then scale down and blend into the context one.

[Qarik]

Thanks again. With your settings I could shoot through the clouds and got these...

11/7/09 moon photos (http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11709-Moon/10232728_tRzJc#705524691_T5Vku)

http://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11709-Moon/IMG8874/705524746_8r2rU-M.jpghttp://lizseventphotography.smugmug.com/Nature/sun-moon/11709-Moon/IMG8847/705524592_XFmhv-M.jpg

wow..these are so much nice then you previosu attempts. well done!:barb

[camarochick]

wow..these are so much nice then you previosu attempts. well done!:barb


Thanks!!!!! Couldn't have done it without you guys :) :bow