Moonlight Photography

[PollyK]

This is my first post so I am hoping it is in correct place. I have Canon S3 IS camera which I love dearly but what I would like to get some info on is how or the best advice on taking moonlight photos, where I live we get some great moon settings around dusk over some lakes and I have tried just about all the setting on my camera but am unable to get the lakes and the moon at dusk to be all in focus. I do not have any extra lenses and was wondering if may be I need a telephoto lens. I am new to photography so any advice will be very much appreciated. thanx PollyK

[Nicole]

Hi Polly, welcome :) And yes, your post is in the right place.

I can safely say that you don't need a telephoto lens. The lens that is on your camera has quite a large zoom range on it (36-472mm).

What is more important is what your aperture setting is. The larger the f/# (smaller aperture), the more of your picture will be in focus. Have you tried using the landscape setting on your camera? That would be a good start because it uses a smaller aperture to get the whole scene in focus.

The other thing that you might consider is whether or not you need a tripod. If you're trying to take shots and it's getting dark out, you're going to be using longer exposures. If you're hand holding the camera, things are likely to get blurry.

[PollyK]

Thanx Nicole, I should have stated that i use a tripod and have also tried with and with out filters, when I work out how to put photos in here for people to see I will show you the shots I have taken:) PollyK

[Nicole]

Thanks, always helpful when people post shots to show what they're talking about. And for a guide to how to post shots, check out this thread (http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4675) :)

[PollyK]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb242/Pateshia/Moonatdusk.jpg

Thanx Nicole, Well I have given it a go, hope it works, PollyK:D

[PollyK]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb242/Pateshia/Moonshotone.jpg
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb242/Pateshia/MoonshotTwo.jpg
here are two more taken on the same evening

[Nicole]

Ok, I can make a few suggestions working from these :) Very helpful.

With your second shot moonshotone, you'll notice that the moon is clear (as are the clouds really). Your shutter speed was 1/125 sec, which is a good speed with which to capture the details on the moon.

With moonatdusk, on the other hand, your shutter speed was only 1/20 sec. This exposure is too long to get any good detail in the moon because the moon is actually relatively bright, so any detail has been blown out. I would actually see if there's a better time to capture this shot (at dawn perhaps) so that the moon is closer to the hills. As it is, there is a lot of sky between the ground and the moon. But back to the matter at hand, the problem is that if you use a faster shutter speed, your foreground will be dark, but you can see what happens if you use a slower one. You could either try a double exposure in photoshop with the moon and landscape, or you could try using a flash to lightup some of the foreground (of course, the flash won't necessarily light up a lot, but it might highlight some of what you want to capture). That will let you get the shorter shutter speed.

A similar problem with moonshottwo might be the culprit. Again, try a flash on the branches with a faster shutter speed and see if that helps.

These are just a few possible suggestions. They may or may not work, but it's worth a shot :) Good luck with future shots! And of course let us know how you get on :)

[PollyK]

Thankyou once again Nicole, you info has been most helpful:)

[mysticeyesx]

hi and welcome to the forum, nice moon photos :)