My moon secrets and mottos
I am hopeless at night-time photography, and I am certainly no astronomer, but have found myself drawn to taking moon photos lately. And (I could be wrong but) I seem to be getting the hang of the settings for getting some detail in my moons.
Not sure if anyone else has noticed but the moon has been SPECTACULAR lately. Maybe it’s the clear cold winter nights? The fullness of the moon?
Whatever, I have loved it.
Loved it in the daytime when it seems like part of the cloud-work in the cobalt blue sky…
Loved it as that white moon begins being cloaked by a darkening backdrop…
As our plunging sun (and it seriously dives fast from the sky in the part of the world, unlike anything I have noticed anywhere else in my travels) leaves it white and stark in the blackness…
And especially loved it when some atmospheric trick colours it orange and glorious and fiery as it rises through the trees from the east…
So I thought I’d share my settings with you (any amateur photo nuts out there?). In case you WANT to try it at your place, but keep getting blurry white moons in your shots.
The key is to switch to manual. I know. Scary. But at night-time, your camera cannot read light from such a small portion of the frame (at least on a 200mm lens, which is my maximum zoom). It will tell you there is not enough light to take a hand-held photo. This is bollocks. There IS.
Experiment a little. Speed up that shutter. Capture that detail. Here we go:
PHOTO NERD INFO.
| Exposure | 1/2500 sec |
|---|---|
| Aperture | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length | 200 mm |
| ISO Speed | 800 |
Not sure, but think I was taking some action photos prior to this shot, hence the pumped up shutter speed. It got the colours right and the moon detail is sharp. Lucky me!
| Exposure | 0.04 sec (1/25) |
|---|---|
| Aperture | f/32.0 |
| Focal Length | 200 mm |
| ISO Speed | 250 |
I had dropped that aperture to try to get a bigger depth of field in this shot (branches close and moon far away). This made me drop my shutter speed to get enough light (I find I can hand-hold the camera down to 1/15 second on a GOOD day).
| Exposure | 0.003 sec (1/400) |
|---|---|
| Aperture | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length | 200 mm |
| ISO Speed | 800 |
See how fast that shutter speed is here. Nothing in foreground to keep in focus, so I could let that aperture open up again. The glare of the moon at this time nearly beat me (detail not as sharp as I would like, but it was darned cold and I was heading into that warm house regardless!).
| Exposure | 0.004 sec (1/250) |
|---|---|
| Aperture | f/9.0 |
| Focal Length | 200 mm |
| ISO Speed | 800 |
This shot was taken after a VERY long day in the paddock as we turned the last corner for home. I had the ute still running as I shot it out the window. If I had more time, I would have played more with the aperture to get better depth of field (leaf shadows in foreground) but I still like the detail and colour of the moon.
Is this helpful? (Please share your efforts with links in comments if you have a crack at it.)
For my non-photo-nerds out there, I finish with a thought/motto which I added to my first moon photo and shared recently on my Facebook page. I cannot say I manage to live by it all the time, but I believe the closer I get to this, the more content I am.
What is your favourite motto?
8 Comments
Amanda
I love moon photos too. I managed to luck into the right settings the first time: http://365project.org/corymbia/365/2011-05-17
and then I figured out what the ISO and aperture needed to be and it’s all easy after that: http://365project.org/corymbia/365/2012-05-07
http://365project.org/corymbia/365/2012-02-29
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Kate
You did well. Amazing!
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Jayne
I have so got to get playing with the settings on my DSLR now that I’m almost functioning on all cylinders again, thanks!
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A Novel Woman
Lovely shots. I keep meaning to try to capture a moon shot, but I keep forgetting where I’ve put my tripod and one needs one’s tripod. Believe me, I tried it without and I don’t recommend it. When there’s a full moon at the lake, the moon is right behind a huge white pine. I really must try it…
When I was in Hawaii years ago, there was a full moon and I “wrote” with it using the moon and a long exposure. You move the camera around and the moon becomes script.
http://anovelwoman.blogspot.ca/2009/10/not-every-day-is-sunny-in-waikiki.html
Favourite quote? It’s never too late to be who you might have been. George Eliot
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connie
Many years ago, when we had been assigned to a domicile on the opposite side of the globe from our families, our scientific young son looked long and hard at the big moon hanging over Africa and rang his grandmother in North America. He ‘needed’ to ask if the moon was also full there.
I mean, these things should be … like checked.
Debby
My favorite motto: ‘It is not enough to be busy. The question is what are we busy about.’ I saw that in high school and it has always hung with me. It is important to take a look at the things that keep us ‘busy’.
You know, sometimes, I wander around here and think, ‘Ya know…I got to get a fancy camera….’ I get the sneaking suspicion though that I would still stink at photography.
Debby´s last blog post ..Tim is embarrassed.
Fiona
Many thanks for the settings from an amateur who loves to learn. Also like your motto, particularlly the work hard and live well … could be the catch-cry of the bush.
I also agree with Debby, amazing how ‘busy’ everybody is these days. Busy getting ready for holidays, busy catching up on patchwork. You should only be able to use the term ‘busy’ if you’re busy working!
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John S. Gonzales
This post is perfect! I am looking at going to Iceland next year, will you be doing a post regarding your itinerary in Iceland soon?
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