Shoot the Moon

Tonight is the full moon.  Ever look up and just marvel at the beauty of the large beatiful moon in the night sky.  Ever wanted to photograph it.  Taking ictures of the moon can be challenging, but with a few steps and the right equipment you can produce images that can wow everyone. 

Equipment:

To get a fantastic moon shoot first we need to talk equipment. Most DSLR cameras will work.  The lens is the real key to getting fantastic details in your shot. I would recommend a lens of at least 200mm.  If you have longer even better!

A tripod is essential!  It doesnt have to be fancy or expensive just stable enough to hold hold your camera and lens securely to allow you to remotely trigger the shuttler.  If you dont ahve a remote, the sel timer in camera will work just as well.

Settings:

The two biggest challenges when shooting the moon are focus and exposure.  The moon is really bright!  Even though most of the time you wil be shooting the moon at night is is different then shooting in low light.  Also the moon is moving!  Use a low ISO and fast shutter speed to accommodate the brightness and movement of the moon, even though you are shooting at night.

Set your camera to manual mode and manual focus (single focus point).  I recommend the following settings.  ISO 200, Shutter Speed 160-250 and F/Stop of 8 or 11.

You will need to play with your setting to find what works best for you.  Aim for images that are slightly underexposed, you can bump the exposure in post processing.

Focusing:

With everything set to manual, turn on the live view.  Center the moon in the LCD Screen and zoom in until the moon fills or nearly fills the screen.  Center your focus point on the center of the moon, then slowly focus your lens until you find the right focus.  This may take a bit.  Watch your details that will help tell you when you are focused.  Take a few test shots to see how your focus is and what adjustments need made.

Post processing:

Crop your image to the desired layout.  Be sure to keep your crop ratio the same as original photo.  Once cropped, adjust your exposure if needed.  Play and see what looks you like the best.

Also remember the cold weather shooting tips that i posted since it is still winter.  Here is the link to that post.  http://krpphotography546.blogspot.com/2013/01/tips-for-shooting-in-cold-weather.html

Remember there is no exact science to this and experimenting is the best way to get the images you will love.  Please be sure to share if you take any photos tonight!

Any questions please let me know.