Shooting by moonlight and taking photo's of the moon

[Myrtle]

So a couple of friends and I went out to the surf beach at Bribie Island last night to take some pics - I ended up having to shoot in night landscape mode as I couldn't get my settings right - pointers would be greatly appreciated - particularly around how to get the moon clear without it looking like a 'sun'.
Here's a selection of my 'auto mode' shots - no PP, straight off the camera.







TIA

Linda

[ATJ]

Linda,

The main thing to remember is that the moon is just reflecting light from the Sun. While it may not be as bright as the Sun, it is a lot brighter than most people give credit. AT ISO200, you need to shoot the full Moon at something like 1/200s and f/8 it is that bright. The added problem is that the sky around the moon is dark.

The above problems are going to make it difficult to get a landscape shot without blowing out the moon as it will be significantly brighter than the ground and sky.

[seeto.centric]

which camera was this?
i assume you used a tripod?

personally what i'd do is spot meter it, use tripod and longest lens @ max focal length
Matrix metering takes into account the large amount of dark sky and will choose a lower shutter speed, resulting in images similar to the ones you posted.

As Andrew mentioned, 1/200 @f/8ish is all that's neccessary.

-j

[Myrtle]

which camera was this?
i assume you used a tripod?

D80 18-55 kit lens and yes I used a tripod - have just got one so it got christened

personally what i'd do is spot meter it

I still have 'spot metering' on the to be learned list

The main thing to remember is that the moon is just reflecting light from the Sun. While it may not be as bright as the Sun, it is a lot brighter than most people give credit. AT ISO200, you need to shoot the full Moon at something like 1/200s and f/8 it is that bright.

Yes, never realised just how bright the moon is until I got behind the camera and tried taking photos
And thanks for the tips

Linda

[Yi-P]

With only 55mm on the max end you have, it will be pretty hard to get a clear view of the moon. You might end up with a photo of a grey spot in the frame.

You'd need something at least 200mm to get a proper 'view' of the moon up there, unless its the month of the "BIG" moon.

[gstark]

You'd need something at least 200mm to get a proper 'view' of the moon up there, unless its the month of the "BIG" moon.

Or stand on a chair to get closer.

Linda,

This is where you need long glass. Even with a 400 on a DX body, the moon only occupies a fairly small portion of the frame, and some measure of cropping is usually needed.

As noted, the moon is way brighter than we tend to expect, and shorter exposures are the order of the day.

[surenj]

Borrow 400mm lens, shoot moon seperately.

Shoot landscape seperately...Add on the moon (should look nice and big as well

OR you may have to do HDR by shooting same scene in different exposures, few for the foreground, few for a moon....

[Myrtle]

Or stand on a chair to get closer.

I should have thought to take a chair with me - will do next time

You'd need something at least 200mm to get a proper 'view' of the moon up there

Will try it with the 70-300 next time - just didn't want to be changing lenses out on the sand.


Thanks for the tips everyone

Linda