Taking pics of the moon

Cool Will have to try this at some point!

Wow great pics. I will need to try that - though I'm without a tripod so wonder if I can hand hold and do it.

Last time I took it I just got a overexposed white circle But that was before I realised you need to take it like you do a day shot... the camera was basically metering for all the darkness and hence the overexposure.

Here's my first attempt. Did it tonight handheld just to try out what I've ready here. With a tripod, it would be wonderful!

arok wrote in post #4727334
Here's my first attempt. Did it tonight handheld just to try out what I've ready here. With a tripod, it would be wonderful!

stop it down to 8 next time

awesome

All of your moons are upside down

Do you have the flash on for these photos? If i set the aperture to F8 and 1/250 at night with the flash off i just get a blank photo as there isnt enough light.

Flash wouldn't help illuminate the Moon

If you look at my shot it was F10 and 1/60s ... 1/250 seems quite fast but you still have been able to see something ... Just experiment!

Welcome to POTN by the way!


David

Wow...Some Great Moon Shots, I have to put that on my "To Do" photo list when it warms up !!

Does it matter what time of night you take these moon shots ?? Is it better in the early evening when the moon may still be straight out on the horizon from your position, or are they taken later at night when the moon is directly overhead....just wondering what time of the night works best ??

(Also, before reading this I would have guessed High ISO and extended shutter would have been needed - so great info here - Thanks !! )

I would have thought the best time would be when the moon is highest in the sky as there's least atmosphere to photograph through = least distortion ... that's why huge space telescopes are usually mounted on the highest convenient mountain to reduce the amount of air they have to look through


David

Here is my first attempt at a moon shot:

If I remember correct: XTI with 100-400 at 400mm, F11, 1/500, Tripod, mirror lock up and a cable release:

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Great shots everyone.

David is right, The higher in the sky the Moon is the more likely there will be less distortion from Earth's atmosphere. However only on a night of very steady seeing conditions will you get optimal viewing and imaging. Low horizon imaging will almost always produce "fuzzy" Lunar shots and also distorts the spherical shape of the Moon as the light is bent passing through the dense atmosphere. The color the atmosphere produces can be very cool though.

Simplified analogy: Think of Earth's atmosphere like a thick sheet of glass. When you turn it on it's edge and try to see through it, it becomes difficult to see and things are distorted. When viewing objects low in the sky you're looking through the atmosphere in a more edge-on manner. Now, turn the glass as it would be seen in a window and the view becomes clearer, just as looking at objects high in the sky.

I've had my best results while Lunar imaging in the early morning hours, say between 3 and 6 am. This is partial due to less radiational cooling of the shadow side of the planet at those hours. Radiational cooling, wind aloft are just two of the factos that play a big role in the atmospheric seeing conditions.

NH

Hogster86 wrote in post #4729004
I would have thought the best time would be when the moon is highest in the sky as there's least atmosphere to photograph through = least distortion ... that's why huge space telescopes are usually mounted on the highest convenient mountain to reduce the amount of air they have to look through


David

Space telescopes are in space, not on mountains.

Well observatories then ...


David