Please say it's photo shop and a telescope... No?
I saw an older post where several people said they'd used a tripod because the slightest movement can ruin the shot, but someone (and I should have thought to copy their name before now...) said they'd taken theirs with a point and shoot. Is that just dumb luck or is there an actual trick to doing amazing things with a not so amazing camera?
I'm a minimalist... which is code for I'm working with what I've got and what I've got is a point and shoot and 3 small children pulling at me at all times, making the likelihood of a steady hand almost non existent.
Bonus points if you say something I later show my husband that convinces him to get me a new camera for valentines day. =]
hey Sarah's hubby Sarah NEEDS a new camera for Valentines day.. and other days too, but how can she take a photo of your handsome face with just her little P/S.. ?
Hows that?? oh and as far as the moon shots go? Im at a loss too... only good moon shots I get is when I bend over and my son takes a shot of my butt...
and no he didnt use a tripod for that one
@nikkers 1. I tried telling him that. I even suggested getting it early so I could have it to document valentines day! He didn't go for it... but I'm not giving up! lol
2. I just about fell out of my chair laughing.
I've achieved moon shots with a point and shoot before. I tend to just sit the camera on a flat surface (a railing for example) and then it's steady enough. High ISO's and preferably a focal length that will reach the moon will help. A telescope works too, place your P&S at the end and there you go. A new camera wont change your moon shots unfortunately, it will affect the ISO that's about it. A new lens will.
I rarely use a tripod. And I have taken moon shots in the past. My tips are, you need darkness. Get away from any lights, the darker the better. And if you are not using a tripod like me, rest your camera up against a pole or post, something that is solid...
The trick is, the moon is actually really bright. You need to meter off the moon, and not include the black sky (as this puts your exposure out by lots!) when you do so. This way, it is easy to get the shot hand-held, so yes - a point and shoot camera will do the job just fine (though the zoom may be lacking).
Much as I'd like to support your mission to get a new camera, you can actually get very good shots with a p&s. Here is my moon shot, not only taken with a p&s but also hand held and with the camera on auto
@ariananeala I don't think I can attach a new lens, but the flat surface will probably go a long way! Thanks for your help.
@bobfoto What difference does the light make? I mean, lets say I was trying to get the moon in the late afternoon rather than middle of the night, is that more difficult? Or does the presence of things like street lights (which I was standing between tonight, and didn't even take into account. lol) screw with the way the camera sees the moon?
@jinximages What about if I didn't use the zoom so much because I want to include someone or something in the shot and just make sure the moon is visible without being blurry? Does it all just come down to the lighting then? Assuming I get somewhere dark, will the light from the moon cause the lens flare like the sun does?
@nikkers Well... he makes up for it in other ways... like he's actually giving me an xbox and lots of goodies to go with it for our anniversary. lol. (We're super romantic like that!) I guess I can settle for this camera... until my birthday. - and don't worry! I think I've got a few moon shots left in me! lol
As jinx said, the moon is very bright. You can use something like f/11 and 1/200th for a start. Easy to hand hold. A telephoto lens helps of course if you want detail.
When the moon is full, because the light is straight on, it's hard to see detail in the craters, so the more dramatic shots are when it is not full.
@curiousmomworm The sunlight is hitting the moon exactly the same during the day as it is at night, so the exposure should be the same. In other words the brightness of the moon doesn't actually change, it just appears brighter at night in comparison to the dark sky.
You people (site wide, not just in this thread) have been fantastic! Thanks for being helpful and polite rather than telling me to shove off and figure it out alone! lol It makes the failures more educational!
i've never tried with a point and shoot, so i don't know about your zoom or how much control you have over your settings...but shoot like it's broad daylight, LOW ISO, wide aperture, fast shutter. the brighter the moon is, the faster your shutter speed should be.. a little sharpening and grain reduction in post processing can go a long way. i have a lot of moon shots if you want to explore, but I do use a DSLR and a 300mm lens (maybe useful if you're looking for a visual to get you a new camera!) :)
@curiousmomworm - Mine are taken through a telescope (since Xmas), with a t-ring and adapter for my DLSR. I am interested in astro-photos, and the set up allowed me to get a shot of Jupiter too. Now waiting for warmer/less cloudy skies, going to look for Saturn and Nebulas. I at having a blast experimenting with it.
I know you can get some really good shots with a standard lens but the telescope has added a cool extra dimension to what I can do (not to mention the technical challenge of using the set up is fascinanting to me.)
PS is useful, and there are other stacking suites that are very helpful too.
@curiousmomworm The moon won't cause lens flare (well, theoretically it could, but under normal circumstances and settings, no). With other objects in the shot, it will usually be hard to expose both the moon and those objects correctly - composite images are a good solution (use a tripod, shoot two exposures - one for subjects, one for moon - combine the shots with simple layering) or light your other subject(s) quite brightly.
@curiousmomworm hi sarah.. this is my photo of moon no edit no photoshop just watermark..i'm using Fujifilm HS10 i use 60x zoom... A mode Spot metering.... tripod... a little bit crop about 5-10% cropped...i'm lucky that time the sky are clear.....
and this one a cloudy sky.. i dony have tripod for this shot... handheld... Manual setting using 1/250 f5.6 spot metering.. little crop...
i dont have a DSLR camera and i'm starting to photography last May 2011.. using my beloved HS10....
I have just a point and shoot and with my little guy I was not able to capture a photo. But I used my brother's point and shoot which is an older version of my camera and I was able to capture it. I think that some point and shoots just can't do it. I did the exact same thing with both cameras, same spot, same night, same settings.
i think bridge cam point and shoot camera can capture Moon.. zoom lens range from 14x zoom up to 35x zoom depend on model.. i use Fujifilm HS10 with 30x zoom( + 2x digital zoom to make 60x zoom).. my lens have 18-720mm....
guys a have a group here in Philippines which we use only Point and Shoot camera... and even me.. i'm amaze to our group because even we only use point and shoot camera we can produce a nice and beautiful photo.. here's our group site.. http://www.tipidpc.com/viewtopic.php?tid=181446 just back read some photo of my group...
here's my other moon shot.. early morning moon shot.. around 6am (Philippines time).
SOOC no edit no crop...
someone already said you need to off the metering to reduce the light,, use spot metering.. spot metering eliminate extra light around your subject......using your DSC w170 maybe you need to use telescope because your camera have only 5x zoom.... i hope it can help you...
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS with an enormous 35x Optical Zoom... this can make a moon shot.. and maybe even the moon rover..^_^
I'm yet to use a DSLR for a moon shot and I've only used a tripod once, the last one I tried I had a new camera with better zoom which was a bit much for my hands to deal with lol. I honestly don't know how I do it, I just play with the settings until I'm happy with it. And just because everyone else is doing it, this is my latest one.
Feel free to check out the exif data for settings :-)
@amz87 Lol! I generally fumble around with the settings until it looks right, but that didn't seem to do the trick with the moon tonight. =) I'm determined to get a good one though... hopefully before the year is over! lol
I guess part of my issue is that I loathe the editing process. Even cropping a photo seems like cheating to me... I guess because by the time I see everyone else's photo, it's already been edited. lol
@curiousmomworm It's probably easiest to find someone that has the same or similar camera to you and find out what settings they've used but I seem to enjoy making things more difficult for myself lol.
I admit I did crop mine but only a little off the top right corner and I adjusted the contrast a tad.
@amz87 I didn't mean to imply the editing process was negative, lol, I just lack the patience for it. I forget sometimes that everyone else doesn't pick up a camera, look around and make magic happen.
@curiousmomworm - I find that any other light pollution will just reduce the sharpness of the moon itself. So if you are standing in your own garden with the back light on, then it will not be as clean a shot as say if you turn off that light.
@curiousmomworm Oh no I didn't think you did hehe. I was just pointing it out. I'm not great with patience either which is why I fall behind all the time I think. Ah well.
@curiousmomworm waaaa cropping to is cheating lol maybe you neen 2000mm to full the moon in your frame..or use telescope..
this photo is not crop and i used 720mm...
@curiousmomworm
I took mine with a Nikon L120 which some people might refer to as a point and shoot. A tripod will work wonders because the slightest movement WILL ruin a photo. However, I don't have a tripod so when I took mine I took 100 shots! LOL There's probably not really a trick. My camera zooms pretty far, that helps.
I have moon shots in my October and December albums, and this one this week-
Feel free to have a look at their exif info. I did use slr for them though. And a tripod. @foolmoon gave me a few good tips. It's worth having a look at his moon shots :)
P&S (super zoom), but I do use a tripod and have cropped this slightly and adjusted the contrast a tad
Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S4000
Exposure: 0.0029 sec (10/3500)
Aperture: f/8.0
ISO Speed: 200
Focal Length: 129 mm
@curiousmomworm Awwww, thank you! :) Hope it's becoming clearer to you now ('scuse the pun!), and that you're getting ready for the next clear night! It was very weird here last night - we could see so many stars - amazing for a city centre. I'm used to countryside nightsky, but it was unbelievable here last night.
@regiehiguit Almost.... Yours has a few features I'm missing on mine ;-) Like manual focus, wider aperture, minimum shutter-speed of 30sec, better sensor, you can shoot in RAW (and yours is faster... something I can get very annoyed with LOL) O and if I'm correct yours has a tilting LCD.. while I endure neck-cramps to get "The shot" LMAO O well... I didn't have more money at the time.. I'm saving (very slowly) for my first DSLR now :-D But will keep this for holliday-snapshots and shorts because I still my best friend (camera wise)
@lluniau Yeah, I noticed how clear it was last night and took these, then came to talk to yall and went back out to see if I could do any better with the tips I was given and the moon was gone. lol It was so cloudy I couldn't see a thing, but it's not unusual to look out and feel like you could touch the moon if you just stood on your toes so I have high hopes!! lol
Ah ok. Apologies if I'm repeating stuff that others may have already said, but they look over exposed. What someone once told me was - "remember you're actually taking a photo of a light source" (technically incorrect of course, but the concept is the same). Have a go at this, and it might help you apply the same principles to photographing the moon -
Close yourself in a darkened room with one small lamp and keep the camera in the same position. Then take photos of the lamp at different settings. When you take a photo with a quicker shutter speed you may find you're getting more detail (of the bulb, lampshade etc) whereas when the shutterspeed is slow (it lets in more light) you get more of a big blurry glow (partially because you're letting more light in through the shutter, but also because you'll be shaking more when the shutter's open!). A lot of P&S cameras have allow you to change the shutter speed (although it's often difficult to find). I don't believe changing the ISO will help much, other than allow you to shoot with a quicker shutter speed (if you're otherwise unable to select shutter speed). I always shoot the moon with ISO 100. But then I use a tripod and am able to change the shutter speed too...see what you're able to change, and then play around with a lamp (i.e. fake moon) in a dark room (i.e. nightsky!).
@lluniau That's actually a really great idea. I generally try to avoid my camera after dark because I really dislike artificial light, so I've tried this during the day, to figure out what the settings mean, lol, but never in the dark.
Would using the self timer help at all do you think? If the camera is on a stable surface, the slower shutter shouldn't be quite as much of an issue should it?
I have also noticed that when I do that (set the camera somewhere and use the timer to avoid blur) it still ends up distorting the colors because the flash is reflecting off of whatever the camera is sitting on. I think this is just further proof that I need a tripod, lol. And probably a basic photography class.
@elke ^_^ well said im agree with you shooting Moon in ISO100 and for me the the spot metering help me to capture sharp moon shot..and help to eliminate excess light of the moon or any subject.... i love the tilt LCD of HS10 it easy to shoot in lower subject.. @curiousmomworm search for the spot metering in your camera i know you have that...try to shoot moon again
This was my first ever attempt at shooting the moon. I used a tripod and a very long exposure, (probably a tad too long?) but processing wiped the exif info, so I can't tell you exactly how long..
I have a decent zoom for a point-and-shoot camera 15X so that will help to get closer. Use a tripod. Set the camera to your infinity setting, mine has a mountain icon. Push the zoom to the max. This will bring you as close as you can get with your camera.
It's bright and you will lose any detail there is if you don't change the exposure. Check your booklet on how to do that. On mine, I just push one button and I can adjust the exposure up or down in incriments, I set it down as far as possible. This makes the moon shadows appear darker.
Now, use the timer. Again check your booklet if you haven't used the timer. Press the shutter and stand back. Do not touch the camera. Any movement will blur the image.
One thing to keep in mind is if you want more sky you will lose detail on the moon. It's a trade off. Get really close, lose the sky and it becomes darker as you zoom closer to the moon. Include more sky, lose detail on the moon. I guess it all depends on what you want your photograph to look like. Either way, I still use this routine for my moon close-up shots.
That is part one. Part 2 consists of playing with the exposure controls in post editing. I'm always surprised at how much detail I can pull out after I've uploaded. Minor cropping was done on this.
No photoshop use on my moons - here's the exit info is on my shot.
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
Exposure: 0.0013 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.7
ISO Speed: 400
Focal Length: 100 mm
@chewyteeth I didn't say I wanted to stare it down like a big juicy hamburger, I just want to photograph it. One good shot is good enough for me. =]
Point taken though, the moon isn't exactly the most exciting subject. Does that mean you have a better suggestion? Is there something else I should be photographing? Lol.
@curiousmomworm
people
candids, portraits, self portraits, models, nudes, action shots. People are whats worthwhile. I'm not a good example but I'm trying. Humankind, homeless people, the old, children, the works.
@chewyteeth You were all over that answer! lol Wouldn't it seem strange to have some stranger taking your photograph? Maybe this is the wrong crowd to see that situation as awkward... lol
@curiousmomworm
There's an art to candids, but 90% of the time people pretend they haven't seen you, some people ask:
and some people just take:
and models, if you get on the right websites more often work for free in exchange for copies of your photos. Don't get me wrong its more difficult than moon photos, but also more rewarding.
@chewyteeth i'm agree with you.. sarah taking picture in candid or on people person are more difficult to a moonshot... becaus the moon we just shoot if you hava a telephoto camera or lens you can do that.. but in candid shot of people/person we dont just take picture to them we need to make a photo with a story or we need to capture the emotion of the subject..
Looks like you're doing alright already with your kids, people is defo the way to go, shame the Pop page is so often technically good but heartless and uninteresting pics of moons and sunsets and kittens. the best pics on here are portraits and street scenes I reckon. just my view.
@chewyteeth I always prefer portraits too. This week I'm doing toys, but next week I'll aim for portraits... I might even get brave and incorporate someone other than my kids. lol
The only way i could do portraits right now is to take one of myself! Unfortunatly this is my favorite type of photography and all my favorite modle's are miles away...i would love to take the challenge of taking pictures of strangers and i might just make that my goal for next week....Thanks for the Question it gave me some inspiration to try something new...i have been one of those having to take mostly landscape and object pic's wich i find rather boring also..Pretty yes.. but i love to see the emotion and expressions on people's faces...One of the Major reasons i started this project is to capture my life in motion...But like most things ..this uneventful time in my life... too shall pass...:) Enjoy!
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Hows that?? oh and as far as the moon shots go? Im at a loss too... only good moon shots I get is when I bend over and my son takes a shot of my butt...
and no he didnt use a tripod for that one
2. I just about fell out of my chair laughing.
and dont fall to far.. you will hurt any chance of your future moon shots.. :)
@bobfoto What difference does the light make? I mean, lets say I was trying to get the moon in the late afternoon rather than middle of the night, is that more difficult? Or does the presence of things like street lights (which I was standing between tonight, and didn't even take into account. lol) screw with the way the camera sees the moon?
@kjarn And there's the one I saw earlier! lol
@nikkers Well... he makes up for it in other ways... like he's actually giving me an xbox and lots of goodies to go with it for our anniversary. lol. (We're super romantic like that!) I guess I can settle for this camera... until my birthday. - and don't worry! I think I've got a few moon shots left in me! lol
When the moon is full, because the light is straight on, it's hard to see detail in the craters, so the more dramatic shots are when it is not full.
You people (site wide, not just in this thread) have been fantastic! Thanks for being helpful and polite rather than telling me to shove off and figure it out alone! lol It makes the failures more educational!
I know you can get some really good shots with a standard lens but the telescope has added a cool extra dimension to what I can do (not to mention the technical challenge of using the set up is fascinanting to me.)
PS is useful, and there are other stacking suites that are very helpful too.
Here is one of mine ...
I really appreciate all the information!!
and this one a cloudy sky.. i dony have tripod for this shot... handheld... Manual setting using 1/250 f5.6 spot metering.. little crop...
i dont have a DSLR camera and i'm starting to photography last May 2011.. using my beloved HS10....
guys a have a group here in Philippines which we use only Point and Shoot camera... and even me.. i'm amaze to our group because even we only use point and shoot camera we can produce a nice and beautiful photo.. here's our group site..
http://www.tipidpc.com/viewtopic.php?tid=181446 just back read some photo of my group...
SOOC no edit no crop...
someone already said you need to off the metering to reduce the light,, use spot metering.. spot metering eliminate extra light around your subject......using your DSC w170 maybe you need to use telescope because your camera have only 5x zoom.... i hope it can help you...
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS with an enormous 35x Optical Zoom... this can make a moon shot.. and maybe even the moon rover..^_^
http://captureyour365.com/2010/01/want-to-shoot-the-moon/
@nomadslens Thanks for that link!!
Feel free to check out the exif data for settings :-)
I guess part of my issue is that I loathe the editing process. Even cropping a photo seems like cheating to me... I guess because by the time I see everyone else's photo, it's already been edited. lol
I admit I did crop mine but only a little off the top right corner and I adjusted the contrast a tad.
this photo is not crop and i used 720mm...
I took mine with a Nikon L120 which some people might refer to as a point and shoot. A tripod will work wonders because the slightest movement WILL ruin a photo. However, I don't have a tripod so when I took mine I took 100 shots! LOL There's probably not really a trick. My camera zooms pretty far, that helps.
Feel free to have a look at their exif info. I did use slr for them though. And a tripod. @foolmoon gave me a few good tips. It's worth having a look at his moon shots :)
Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S4000
Exposure: 0.0029 sec (10/3500)
Aperture: f/8.0
ISO Speed: 200
Focal Length: 129 mm
Close yourself in a darkened room with one small lamp and keep the camera in the same position. Then take photos of the lamp at different settings. When you take a photo with a quicker shutter speed you may find you're getting more detail (of the bulb, lampshade etc) whereas when the shutterspeed is slow (it lets in more light) you get more of a big blurry glow (partially because you're letting more light in through the shutter, but also because you'll be shaking more when the shutter's open!). A lot of P&S cameras have allow you to change the shutter speed (although it's often difficult to find). I don't believe changing the ISO will help much, other than allow you to shoot with a quicker shutter speed (if you're otherwise unable to select shutter speed). I always shoot the moon with ISO 100. But then I use a tripod and am able to change the shutter speed too...see what you're able to change, and then play around with a lamp (i.e. fake moon) in a dark room (i.e. nightsky!).
Would using the self timer help at all do you think? If the camera is on a stable surface, the slower shutter shouldn't be quite as much of an issue should it?
I have also noticed that when I do that (set the camera somewhere and use the timer to avoid blur) it still ends up distorting the colors because the flash is reflecting off of whatever the camera is sitting on. I think this is just further proof that I need a tripod, lol. And probably a basic photography class.
@curiousmomworm search for the spot metering in your camera i know you have that...try to shoot moon again
Powershot...
400D (with Tamron 70-300mm lens)
Personally I think the zoom on the Powershot gives me a better moon shot!
My new camera ...taken the very next night Show your husband and let him do the math! ;~} Both taken with no tripod.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLJRFRMwDtE&feature=related
I now have a new camera and lens, but took this last year with dslr and an ancient lens. Could get so much better with a better quality lens.
Camera: Pentax Corporation PENTAX K10D
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/8.0
ISO Speed: 100
Focal Length: 210 mm
with
with
without
I have a decent zoom for a point-and-shoot camera 15X so that will help to get closer. Use a tripod. Set the camera to your infinity setting, mine has a mountain icon. Push the zoom to the max. This will bring you as close as you can get with your camera.
It's bright and you will lose any detail there is if you don't change the exposure. Check your booklet on how to do that. On mine, I just push one button and I can adjust the exposure up or down in incriments, I set it down as far as possible. This makes the moon shadows appear darker.
Now, use the timer. Again check your booklet if you haven't used the timer. Press the shutter and stand back. Do not touch the camera. Any movement will blur the image.
One thing to keep in mind is if you want more sky you will lose detail on the moon. It's a trade off. Get really close, lose the sky and it becomes darker as you zoom closer to the moon. Include more sky, lose detail on the moon. I guess it all depends on what you want your photograph to look like. Either way, I still use this routine for my moon close-up shots.
That is part one. Part 2 consists of playing with the exposure controls in post editing. I'm always surprised at how much detail I can pull out after I've uploaded. Minor cropping was done on this.
No photoshop use on my moons - here's the exit info is on my shot.
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
Exposure: 0.0013 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.7
ISO Speed: 400
Focal Length: 100 mm
(hope that works)
In other news, who wants to see a picture of the moon? its a white ball, you seen one you seen 'em all. Boring.
Point taken though, the moon isn't exactly the most exciting subject. Does that mean you have a better suggestion? Is there something else I should be photographing? Lol.
........no really, I'm at a loss.
@binny thank you!!
people
candids, portraits, self portraits, models, nudes, action shots. People are whats worthwhile. I'm not a good example but I'm trying. Humankind, homeless people, the old, children, the works.
take a look of this one.. this one can prove anything under the sun...
photo by @sdpace
There's an art to candids, but 90% of the time people pretend they haven't seen you, some people ask:
and some people just take:
and models, if you get on the right websites more often work for free in exchange for copies of your photos. Don't get me wrong its more difficult than moon photos, but also more rewarding.
Exactly!
100% agree.
Thanks @chewyteeth @regiehiguit