First attempt at the moon

[mjsnikon]

I shot the moon for the first time tonight with my D3000 Nikon on a tripod. I used manual setting of f11, 1/125 and ISO of 100 at 300 mm. How can I improve the shot, either through post-shot processing or for future shots? Thanks!!!!

[flytyer57]

I think that if you had cropped this photo more, the moon would look bigger and be more enjoyable to look at.

[ceremus]

It's not bad, a little soft though which may be caused by a few things. I personally would be more comfortable shooting at a higher shutter speed and maybe opening up the aperture to f/8. Maybe something like 1/200 - 1/250. Shouldn't need to be super fast when on a tripod, but faster is better for telephoto. If you have a cable release or remote shutter, that will also help to make sure you're not transferring any vibration from your hand that can blur your shot. If you don't have these, the self timer works as well.

Is it possibly a bit underexposed? That can cause some softness issues. It could also just be your weather visibility for that night wasn't optimal for your shoot. I've shot the moon with a consumer 300mm zoom and gotten sharp, nicely detailed shots, and on other nights when the sky is just slightly less clear my results will be all fuzzy.

[mjsnikon]

awesome feedback...much love