# Moon shoot issues



## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

Hi all, I tried to shoot the moon when it was full, and in the first few shots I got a mirror effect, which I realized was because I had a filter on my camera. So I took the filter off, and no matter how many times I tried to shoot again, all I got was a bright ball in the sky, I couldn't get the moon to show clearly at all. Any suggestions?
The camera was on a tripod, I used a 55-250mm lens focal length at 250mm.

1. With the filter






2. Without the filter.
Shot at 3200 ISO, shutter speed 1/60th, f/5.6. focal length 250mm on a 55-250mm lens.


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## marmots (Jan 3, 2011)

for one you had your iso super high...

im a little confused... if you know what your settings are/do, then how do you not know how to fix this

any way, lower iso, higher shutter-speed, and smaller aperture

here's one i did an extreme crop on


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## Wesche (Jan 3, 2011)

Try lowering the ISO, and increasing shutter speed.


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## Light Artisan (Jan 3, 2011)

Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

marmots said:


> for one you had your iso super high...
> 
> im a little confused... if you know what your settings are/do, then how do you not know how to fix this
> 
> ...


Thats a beautiful shot. What lens and settings did you use?
As far as your confusion, imagine mine :blushing:. This is what "a little bit of knowledge is dangerous" means. I've never tried moon shots before, and couldn't figure out what to do. Oh well, I guess I'll try again next time. At least I now have learned one way NOT to take a photo of the moon.:mrgreen:


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## Wesche (Jan 3, 2011)

Light Artisan said:


> Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.



Im no expert but that will be way to dark


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## OrionsByte (Jan 3, 2011)

If you're using your meter to figure out your exposure, make sure you use spot metering, or else your camera will think all that black sky needs to be properly exposed.  The moon's actually pretty bright and doesn't need a lot of exposure.


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

Light Artisan said:


> Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.


Sounds great Light, I really appreciate the actual settings to try.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

OrionsByte said:


> If you're using your meter to figure out your exposure, make sure you use spot metering, or else your camera will think all that black sky needs to be properly exposed.  The moon's actually pretty bright and doesn't need a lot of exposure.


AHA!! Excellent point. Thanks:thumbup:


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

Wesche said:


> Light Artisan said:
> 
> 
> > Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.
> ...


What would you recommend?


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## Nijay (Jan 3, 2011)

Wesche said:


> Light Artisan said:
> 
> 
> > Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.
> ...



I've done mine at even less exposure and it works out pretty well.  The key is spot metering.  A full moon is very very bright and its really easy to wash out all the details by overexposing.

Edit:  For something less than a full moon, I'd imagine those setting given will be pretty good.  I've only tried a full moon.


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## Vinny (Jan 3, 2011)

For a moon shot use a low ISO due to noise. Use spot metering, center spot, center the moon on that spot and take the reading. Use live view or any other way to lock up the mirror and use either a remote release or timer on the camera to trigger the shutter. A full moon won't give you craters, you need to have a shadow on the moon for craters.

I did the above for this shot


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## OrionsByte (Jan 3, 2011)

Wesche said:


> Light Artisan said:
> 
> 
> > Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.
> ...



Think of the sun as an off-camera flash and the moon as a reflector.  Sure, you'll need a lot of exposure to snap a photo of an object in moonlight, but the moon itself is pretty bright when you're pointed right at it.


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## Studio7Four (Jan 3, 2011)

Wesche said:


> Light Artisan said:
> 
> 
> > Try 1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 and take it from there by adjusting the shutter speed or aperture.
> ...



Believe it or not, the light reflecting off the moon is basically the same as shooting in daylight.  In astronomical terms the moon is essentially the same distance from the sun as is the Earth, and the distance between the Earth and moon is negligible.  Just because there isn't much light coming from the "scene" as a whole - the entire night sky - doesn't mean that there isn't enough light coming from your subject, the moon.  An appropriate analogy is lighting a subject to get a black background.  You properly light and expose for the subject (1/250th at f/11, ISO 200 seems reasonable, no?) and control your light so that the background is underlit enough.


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

Vinny said:


> For a moon shot use a low ISO due to noise. Use spot metering, center spot, center the moon on that spot and take the reading. Use live view or any other way to lock up the mirror and use either a remote release or timer on the camera to trigger the shutter. A full moon won't give you craters, you need to have a shadow on the moon for craters.
> 
> I did the above for this shot


Thanks Vinny, nice shot,
All sounds like solid good advice, and now I've also learned about the shadow/crater relationship.


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## HWesh (Jan 3, 2011)

When I shot the lunar eclipse I my exposure was 1/200sec at f/11 with ISO 200 and I got shots like this :




Lunar Eclipse Sequence by Harris Wesh, on Flickr

ISO 320, f/18, 1/200sec: 



IMG_5645.jpg by Harris Wesh, on Flickr

The one above just cropped: 



IMG_5645 by Harris Wesh, on Flickr


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## Light Artisan (Jan 3, 2011)

I talk from experience as I've taken a few moon shots with smaller zoom lenses with decent results, this one at 200mm.




Mooned by Light Artisan Photography, on Flickr


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

Light Artisan said:


> I talk from experience as I've taken a few moon shots with smaller zoom lenses with decent results, this one at 200mm.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Experience does to opinion, what a rock does to a bug :thumbup:. Nice shot.


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## kundalini (Jan 3, 2011)

Use the Search function in the top bar. "Moon" would be a good keyword to use. There are a myriad of threads and settings at your disposal. Also while you're at it, search for member astrostu. He wrote a book on shooting celestrial bodies.



EDIT:
Here, I'll save you the trouble.....


http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/147712-lunar-moon-photography-guide-astrostu.html


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## mwcfarms (Jan 3, 2011)

Shot this with close to the settings Light mentioned and my kit lens.


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## Tight Knot (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks Kundalini and Mwcfarms. I really appreciate the info.


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## Marcie (Dec 13, 2011)

Wht is the setting on the dial, did u uus manual or TV or AV.

Thanks


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## mjhoward (Dec 13, 2011)

lol, what is with everyone digging up year old posts today?!?

Marcie, use Manual.


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## pgriz (Dec 13, 2011)

Marcie said:


> Wht is the setting on the dial, did u uus manual or TV or AV.
> 
> Thanks



Has to be manual.  If you're shooting in Tv or Av modes, the camera's meter will try to brighten up the darkness around the moon and will end up grossly overexposing the moon.  As has been said a number of times before, the moon (esp. the full moon) is illuminated as for the noon-day sun, and the sunny-16 rule applies (ie, 1/100sec at f/16 at ISO100).


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## LightSpeed (Dec 13, 2011)

My moon shot came out quite a bit different from any of these. lol
Stay tuned.


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## MrSleepin (Dec 13, 2011)

mjhoward said:


> lol, what is with everyone digging up year old posts today?!?
> 
> Marcie, use Manual.



i bet they are google-ing questions... and the answers are sending them to this site's old threads.


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