Moon photography techniques

[Mike A]

I was excited to have a clear night last night to try out my "new to me" 70-300mm lens for my D50. I had the moon in crisp focus and filling up a good portion of the view finder. I tried all different kinds of settings in manual mode but I could never see any of the contrast of the different parts of the moon. I would just come out as a bright light circle. Any tips on getting good detail of the moon? :dunno

Thanks!

[DJ-S1]

There's a bunch of good info here already, just search for "moon" to find the other threads. But as a start, you need to expose for daylight conditions since the bright moon surface is reflecting sunlight right at you. Keep trying, moon shots aren't as straightforward as they look, but they are fun!

[Andy]

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=32538#post32538

And, you can work really hard at it and get awesome results:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=7667469

[Mike A]

Thanks! I suppose I was just overexposing them. I'll try again, hopefully it's clear in the next few days.

[afmdmc]

The easiest way is to shoot just after sun down while the sky is still light.
if not then under exposeby at least 3 full stops and you must, must, must, use a tripod. good luck. it's so cool when it works.
http://afmdmc.smugmug.com/photos/43402785-L.jpg
Date Taken:2005-10-17 16:59:25Date Digitized:2005-10-17 16:59:25Date Modified:2005-10-17 16:59:25Make:CanonModel: Canon EOS-1DSSize: 4064x2704Bytes: 3309952Aperture: f/5.6ISO: 640Focal Length: 1600mmExposure Time: 0.0166s (1/60)Exposure Program:Normal programExposure Bias:-3

[kdog]

... you must, must, must, use a tripod.
Oh, I don't know about that. This one was hand-held. :D

http://www.jacara.com/photo/nyc_sunset_moon1.jpg

[gus]

Try shays programme... (http://www.shaystephens.com/mooncalc.asp)

Here is one i got last year & the settings used to help get you going.

Good Luck !

Date Taken:2005-05-18 17:13:41Date Digitized:2005-05-18 17:13:41Make:CanonModel: Canon EOS 20D Size: 634x589 Bytes: 255502 Aperture: f/7.1 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 400mm (guess: 311mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.01s (1/100)Flash:Flash did not fire, compulsory flash modeExposure Program:Aperture priorityExposure Bias:-2ColorSpace:sRGB

http://wadjelaphotography.smugmug.com/photos/41080189-M.jpg

[Mike A]

http://mikeandshelby.smugmug.com/photos/55772135-L.jpg

[Mitchell]

Mike, thats a great shot for your first attempt.

Gus, yours is a beauty. I particularly like the coloring.

Here's mine from last night with my new 300mm. I still need more practice with these shots.

http://clearwaterphotography.smugmug.com/photos/55809078-M.jpg