Moon with Venus

[Chimera]

About a month or so back, there was a spectacular view of the moon with mecury and venus close by; the moon was just a sliver and the planets really stood out. I spent around half an hour out on the back porch with my camera trying to get the settings right to really capture the beauty of the scene. Of all the shots I took, this was the only that was anywhere close to sharp.



EXIF:

Exposure: 0.02 (1/50) second
Apperature: F/4.5
Focal length: 78 mm
ISO: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV

What are the best settings for taking shots of the moon? My main problem was focus...am I right in thinking that a 78 mm Focal length is too short?

[mseigafuse]

Hi Chimera,

I think you captured the moon and Venus just fine with the focal length you used. If you are looking for more detail on the moon then a longer focal length will help with that. It all depends on what you are after. If you are into astrophotography then longer bigger lenses are a must, if you are looking to capture the beauty of the overall scene then you might want to actually go a but wider and include some of the landscape/scenery in the shot along with the moon and Venus. There a number of other conjunctions in 2009 so you will have lots more chances to experiment and see which you like better. If you search the BPS blog you will see some tips for both astrophotography as well as taking pictures of the moon.

As far as focus... since the objects are so far away what usually works is to use manual focus and set it for infinity or close to it. You might also consider using a higher aperture setting as well to get a longer depth of field.

I think your shot is nice, I think it would be nicer if it had some context around it in the way of scenery ... but that is my personal preference

[tvoelcker]

Perhaps consider cropping a bit off the top and left hand side.
When we read a piece of paper we usually start at the top left hand corner and end at the bottom right hand corner. Perhaps placing the moon and planet at or closer to these points would improve the composition? Note: this is just me thinking out loud as usual.
I've never attempted shooting the moon so can't be of much assistance with lens choice etc.
However, I do thank you for sharing..

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by mseigafuse

if you are looking to capture the beauty of the overall scene then you might want to actually go a but wider and include some of the landscape/scenery in the shot along with the moon and Venus.

Well, unfortunately from where I live, the only scenery or terrestial things that could be in this shot for context would be the roof and scaffolding of a half-built house that's next door to us...but I do understand what your saying. I'll try to keep that in mind and see if I can get somewhere where I CAN put some scenery in...

tvoelcker, thanks for your tip. I tried it, put wasn't exactly satisfied with my results...however, I do need to remember to crop and edit my pictures a lot more...