The Official Shoot the Moon Thread

lisastallsmith wrote in post #18446834
These photos are amazing! I'm new to both the photography world and the Astonomy world. I haven't the slightest clue how to shoot the moon. Can anyone give a simple breakdown? Are they shot through a telescope? Or a special lens ?

Good advice from Choderboy about looking at the exif data inthe photos you like.

Some basic info about Moon shots: You don't need special equipment. A camera with manual settings and a telephoto lens help. Photos can even be taken hand held (no tripod) most of the time. The Moon is actually very bright - manual settings help because your camera's light meter can be fooled by all the dark space (dependent on it's menu settings). The best way to learn is to go outside, take photos, and learn from any mistakes. If your results aren't good and you don't know why, post a sample photograph and plenty of people here will help you figure out how to get better.

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you, yes I see how the texts. I appreciate the response!

I do not have a telephoto lens (yet) but I will try with the gear I have and go from there. Thank you for the help!

You don't need an expensive autofocus lens to shoot the moon.

You can get an inexpensive telescope if you love to just look and image the moon.

There is also other ways to shoot the moon, other than still imaging. Just depends on how you want to approach it.

Very best,

Hikin Mike wrote in post #18445648
Moon Over the Merced Theatre - September 5, 2017

Mike,
This is a nice environmental shot but over and above that, the neon signs are spot on! Too frequently they are overexposed.
Nice work.
Curt

umgrizz wrote in post #18447961
Mike,
This is a nice environmental shot but over and above that, the neon signs are spot on! Too frequently they are overexposed.
Nice work.
Curt

Thanks!

I ended up blending two exposures because I wanted to see some of the details in the tower. I just created a GND with 1/125 sec & 1/5 sec in Photoshop.

I wanted to get a shot of the moon using my Sony a6500 + FE 100-400GM + 2x extender and last night was too cloudy. Tonight wasn't much better but I did manage to get this one. There is still a small cloud over the center portion of the moon in this shot.

Focal length equivalent of 1200mm.

Love the detail on the craters Gene.

Looks to me like you nailed it Gene!

bridge camera moon.

The moon from Spain last week.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Xk5o​qU

I tried a shot the other night.

Canon Rebel EOS 1300D
ISO Speed 100
Lens EF75-300mm f/4-5.6
Image Quality RAW
Focal Length 300.0mm
Av(Aperture Value) 8.0
Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/60
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

Nice attempt. Did you use spot metering? I fine that helps in getting a clearer shot

The best results you can get would be with manual mode, IMO. This way you control the exposure exactly. Trying to get a crisp detailed shot while also having the camera try to automate things is too much work. It is quite easy to dial in the exposure right out of the gate in manual, then you only have to worry about framing and focus for the shot, nothing else gets in the way. I go 100% manual for moon shots, with live view and 5x zoom, sometimes 10x.

The same comments here apply as they did on the other thread:
- Get your shutter speeds up, to minimally 1/<focal length> if not a bit faster
- Manual mode
- Don't be afraid of higher ISO levels
- Live view is very helpful, especially with 5x/10x and manual focus, AF can cause issues
- Tripod if you are not steady
- Don't shoot full moon as crater detail is better at the lesser phases
- Wait for very clear nights, winter is a great time to shoot the moon, as cold will clear the air usually
- Shoot the moon directly overhead if possible, the closer to the horizon, more of the atmosphere plays a part in the image. Now for artistic shots, more landscape in nature, then horizon-based moon shots are very nice, but zoomed in for crater detail, the less atmosphere you have in the way, the better.
- The better the lens, the better the result, not all 300mm on all telephoto lenses are created equal. A 75-300 vs a 70-300L at 300mm will show 2 different results.


Once you master this, you can start to stack up teleconverters...

Found this in my old Rebel XT archives the other day. Shot during an air show back when I used the sports auto mode and didn't know about RAW.

Photo from C Scott IV's gallery.