Going Loony by northy

Going Loony

If you can help me out in terms of getting a better moon shot, i would very much appreciate it! i have a very basic telephoto lens, but i followed all the instructions i could find for shooting the moon (tripod, mirror lock-up, use timer, manual focus) and i still can't get the definition others seems able to achieve with a basic camera... what am i missing?
I think your shot looks pretty good. I have also been working on moon shots. Have you done any research on the internet? From what I have read a lot of the really cool moon shots are composites. Here are a couple articles on photographing the moon. http://www.danheller.com/moon.html http://www.calphoto.com/moon.htm
This is my last photo of the moon so I am still working on it. This was taken about 2:00p.m. with a 105mm macro lens because I was out hiking and that was the lens I had with me.
February 7th, 2012  
I don't know why photo won't attach but it is on Jan. 29th in my 365 album.
February 7th, 2012  
@lstasel tx Laura... i did do some research, and you are right, landscapes with the moon at night tend to be composites because of the challenge in getting the right shutter speed to have both the moon and the tree / mountain / ocean come out at the right exposure...

but even with shots of just the moon on its own, it seems others are able to get a much better defined shot...

i've been chasing the moon for some time now, and so really, i'm thrilled that the above shot came out as good as it did... :)
February 7th, 2012  
It's a toughy. I had a hard time too. Your settings look pretty good....maybe try f11?
Focus is hard since it's so small. Don't give up!

February 8th, 2012  
@shutterbugger hmmm... i did take the shot at a number of different f's and shutter speeds... i'll have to go back and see what f11 looked like! then again, i was focussing manually and my eyes suck, so maybe that's where the problem lies!
February 9th, 2012  
@northy same! Did you see the moon tonight? It was coming over the houses across the road....all wispy and bright. At one point, a friend had lent me her 300mm and today I really wished I had it back. I ran across the road and tried to catch it with my kit lens and it sucked. Could be because I didn't take my tripod...which also sucks.
February 9th, 2012  
@shutterbugger missed the moon tonight... couldn't see it - must have been behind clouds... i saw it this morning around 6am when i went out jogging... if it weren't so darned cold, and if i hadn't started a tad late, i would have gone for more shots when i came home... decided i'd hold off trying again until half or crescent moon in a week or so... i've found the tripod to be key... i stand zero chance of any moon shot without it... cool that you got to try out a 300mm... that must be amazing! my telephoto is 250 and it's good, but not great...
February 9th, 2012  
@northy I use a 500mm with a 2X teleconverter to make it 1000 mm on my Nikon. I checked all mine and my camera has been set at f/13.
February 12th, 2012  
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.