Why did this happen?

[private]

Exif:
Exposure: 1 sec (1)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 95 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash fired


I have never heard of or seen moon flare b4. Is that a normal thing? And why does the moon look like the sun - This is the first of a series and I took this one on Auto...

[Elmo]

Yes it is flair because the moon is so bright and directly in the field of the camera.

Think about this. The moon is in direct sunlight therefore it is subject to the sunny 16 rule. f:16 with a shutter speed of 1/ISO. in this case 1/400. There will be some loss due to haze. In this case clouds reduce the exposure some more. this is a good place to use spot metering. and over expose about a stop.

Normally the lens will handle the flair if the moon is not over exposed so much.

I also have to ask, were you using a protective filter?

[jul]

Question about the protective filter....I have heard you can damage your sensor shooting directly into bright light. Is this true? Would a UV filter be enough to help protect the lens?

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by private

I have never heard of or seen moon flare b4. Is that a normal thing? And why does the moon look like the sun - This is the first of a series and I took this one on Auto...

The moon looks like the sun because it's reflecting back a lot of light from the sun So, there's also this trick called the "Moony 11" rule that I came across when searching for info on photographing the eclipse. What that basically means is that if you set your camera to f/11, your shutter speed should be 1/ISO. So at ISO 200, it would be f/11 and 1/200 sec. And yep, if you were using a filter that reflection is very common, and it can happen with any long exposure where there are bright lights (and probably other times too).

Originally Posted by jul

Question about the protective filter....I have heard you can damage your sensor shooting directly into bright light. Is this true? Would a UV filter be enough to help protect the lens?

Odds are that it won't actually damage your sensor unless you're leaving it pointed directly at the sun with the shutter open for a very long time. There was a discussion about this a while back.

[private]

yes, I do have a UV filter on my lens. I did forget my first grade science That the moon is actually "lit" by the sun... I guess that is why the show are you smarter than a 5th grader is soooo popular. LOL

[Elmo]

Try shooting without the Filter, you might be supprised.

JUL: CAUTION. There is an even greater risk to your eyes that the sensor when looking at he sun through a view finder.

[lputman]

Originally Posted by Elmo

Try shooting without the Filter, you might be surprised.

Yes, take off the filter. Once I did on mine, everything was ok.

[WooD]

Could it not be the flare was due to her using her flash in this shot?

I've taken hundreds of moon shots, and never used a flash.

[lputman]

Would the flash have made a difference at all in this case? I would think it was too far away to have any affect.

[Nicole]

I wouldn't think it would be the flash. If only because I've had this happen before when I haven't used flash but I've been taking long exposures of bright objects (including the moon) with filters on. I suppose the flash is possible, but it's definitely possible that it played no part at all either.