How I shoot the moon..

[arlon]

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I have shot a lot of moon shots with a big lens but I decided to try seeing what I could do with a "run of the mill" zoom and hand held..

Camera D90, lens 18-250mm sigma (image stabilized lens) hand held.
ISO 200
F11, 1/180 sec. at 250mm

I try to shoot the moon several stops UNDER exposed. Then I use increase contrast ONLY to bring the exposure back up. Doing this drives the background to sold black and gives more definition to the craters. If it looks good on your camera monitor, it's too bright!
I sharpen at about 1 pixel radius and 50-100% in PS elements 5, usually desaturate the color and that's about it.

This is a MANUAL exposure and MANUAL focus ONLY proposition. I shoot about 20 shots in manual focus refocusing between EVERY shot. Out of 20 shots manually focused one will simply be better than all the others. I've never gotten what I thought was a good shot using auto focus on the moon.

Here's the shot from the 250mm hand held.

http://www.pbase.com/arlon/image/116600944/original.jpg
When I get serious, I use an old manual focus 600mm and a 2x TC for some really spectacular shots. Same as above but using a tripod and timer for the shutter release. More lens you have the steadier you need to keep the shot!

Click image for the larger version:


My moon gallery out HERE


Your moons are always a lot of fun to add to other photos..




Go out there and give it a try and post your results!

[MOmilkman]

Those shots are absolutely incredible. I tried a couple moon shots but knew I had something way off, must have been that I didn't underexpose. Not sure but your making me want to give it another go.
Great work and thanks for the tutorial.

[arlon]

If you have a 70-300, get out there an try a few manual shots. I think you'll be surprised.

[Joey the girl]

Wow, I can't believe how large and detailed you got it with a 250mm. I have a 55-200mm lens (granted it's a kit lens... I'm saving my pennies for a nicer one) and the moon still seemed so distant, that I decided to give up completely until I get a better lens. Maybe I'll try again sometime. Is there a time of the night that the moon appears bigger than others? (hmm... now that I've asked, I'm sure the answer depends where exactly you are on the planet...)

[ClemsonME2010]

Thanks for posting this! I recently picked up the D90 w/kit lens, 70-300mm, and 50mm prime. I've been playing around with the 70-300 trying to get moon shots but it's mostly been trial and error. A few more days and it should be full. I'll try your recommendations (with a tripod, though ).

Originally Posted by Joey the girl

Is there a time of the night that the moon appears bigger than others?

If you watch closely the moon is constantly moving through the sky....slowly but surely. If you have a good telephoto lens you can see it moving across the camera screen. I tried to get some shots the other day but by the time I started it was almost at the horizon, so it fell behind a treeline.

[arlon]

Originally Posted by ClemsonME2010

A few more days and it should be full. I'll try your recommendations (with a tripod, though ).

Full moons are by far the hardest to shoot. At least they are the hardest to get any details out of. The sun is straight on and there are few shadows to bring out the relief. My favorite moon to shoot for detail is between 1/2 and 3/4 full. Don't wait for the full moon, try a few just before.

[arlon]

Originally Posted by Joey the girl

I have a 55-200mm lens (granted it's a kit lens...

You can still get some detailed shots but you'll want to shoot off a tripod and use the timer for the shutter release if you don't have a vibration control lens of some sort.. Just be sure to try shooting more under exposed and manual focus. Try the contrast approach and tell us how it goes!

[Joey the girl]

Originally Posted by arlon

You can still get some detailed shots but you'll want to shoot off a tripod and use the timer for the shutter release if you don't have a vibration control lens of some sort.. Just be sure to try shooting more under exposed and manual focus. Try the contrast approach and tell us how it goes!

All right, will definitely try that. Keep your fingers crossed that the wind clears some of the clouds out of the sky before it gets dark, otherwise it might take me a few days before I can make another attempt.

[markklabo@yahoo.com]

I have a silly question. How do I under expose and then bring up the contrast. I've had a D40. I have the kit lens and a AF Zoom- NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4-5.6G. Have had it for a year and its the last nice thing I may ever be able to afford so I'm trying to get a little serious. Any help would be greatly appreciated....

[arlon]

You have to shoot in manual mode. It will take some experimenting. Start at F8, 1/250s.

Increasing the contrast has to be done in post processing. I use PS Elements to increase the contrast and apply a little sharpening.