Full moon fever!!/Lunar "X"/General moon shots

[mtbdudex]

Instead of cluttering the "shot of the day" with moon shots, here is a "Full moon" thread.


My full moon 12-2 shot from SE Mich (2:31am full moon time, this is 3:19am shot)


vs 11-29


Crop with minor PP done.

Basic Q, because of brightness of full moon, and my limited 55-250mm kit (@250) softness, I lose detail of full moon vs almost full moon?

I'll try some shots @ 225 and 200mm, just to see if less zoom is clearer on my kit lens.

[kreuzberg]

Wow those are fantastic!

[mtbdudex]

Of course, I took the boys on my moon quest also...
By their school, looks so washed out there, hard to expose them and the moon.(clickable)


now rising over their school (clickable)


and the reason I was 15 minutes late picking them up.....I was shooting at the middle school just down the road....(clickable)

[kallisti]

[davidee]

very very nice

Here is one of mine

I took it with an 800MM rokinon

http://davidee.smugmug.com/Other/800...56_uyhNr-L.jpg

and the xlarge version

http://davidee.smugmug.com/Other/800...6_uyhNr-X3.jpg

the original is just massive, I did not crop it, just posted it as I shot it

[mtbdudex]

Nice shots kallisti and davidee.

I was visiting family over the holidays, took the tripod for the Dec-31-2009 Blue Moon, but it was cloudy in SE Michigan.

Anybody here got both Dec-2009 full moons?

I took this on 12/29/2009


and earlier this morning 1/2/2010.

[yetanotherdave]

As it was a blue moon, I set the white balance to the lightblulb preset...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yetanotherdave/4231997383/
Nikon D40 200mm 1/15s f13

and without.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yetanotherdave/4231998215/
Nikon D40 200mm 1/6s f6.3

[DaveOZ]

[Hello-Jeremy]

Shot at 1/8s, ƒ/5.6, ISO 800 without a tripod :-)
Bigger versjon

[RHVC59]

Need a longer lens....
Nikon DX 55-200 1-4-5.6
ISO 100, tripod, manual focus, IS off, Remote trigger, Very cold hands...

All PP done in CS3 Adobe RAW, the last three images were cropped in RAW

photo 1. f8 15 sec
photo 2. sky F8, 55 sec
photo 3. F8 1/15 sec, Daylight WB
photo 1. F8 1/15 sec ,Daylight WB
photo 5. last one F10, 1/60, sec WB - Incandescent

[NeuralControl]

Wow. There are some fantastic shots in this thread.

[OrangeCuse44]

Originally Posted by yetanotherdave

As it was a blue moon, I set the white balance to the lightblulb preset...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yetanotherdave/4231997383/
Nikon D40 200mm 1/15s f13

Dave, that is great. It has wallpaper written all over it, very nice!

[RHVC59]

Shot the other night
Lens old non-automatic lens,
Nikkor * ED 300mm 1:4.5 with a Nikon TC-301 2x Teleconverter for an effective lens length of 750mm?
non cropped image

Manual settings F-16
1/60 sec

ISO 100

[thesmall]

kallisti did u took it u r self.. or did u paste it fron the internet.. never the less the picture looks absolutley amazing

[mtbdudex]

Shot about 1 hr ago, here in 15degf Michigan....brrrrr
Manual mode, 1/200 second, ƒ/10, ISO 100, IS off, camera had about 30 minute cold soak outside, used mirror lock enabled.

[mtbdudex]

Originally Posted by davidee

very very nice

Here is one of mine

I took it with an 800MM rokinon

http://davidee.smugmug.com/Other/800...56_uyhNr-L.jpg

and the xlarge version

http://davidee.smugmug.com/Other/800...6_uyhNr-X3.jpg

the original is just massive, I did not crop it, just posted it as I shot it

I opened your original pict, love the detail, you people with big lens get great shots, I might spring for a 1.4 TC and see how that helps my 55-250 kit lens get more detail. Hopefully I won't reach the optic limits of my kit zoom lens.

[maddagascar]

Originally Posted by mtbdudex

Shot about 1 hr ago, here in 15degf Michigan....brrrrr
Manual mode, 1/200 second, ƒ/10, ISO 100, IS off, camera had about 30 minute cold soak outside, used mirror lock enabled.

did you have to crop the photo? great quality, what kind of lens do you have?

i only have the 18-55m lens kit on my canon, and the moon looks verry tiny..haaha. thanks!

[mtbdudex]

Originally Posted by maddagascar

did you have to crop the photo? great quality, what kind of lens do you have?

i only have the 18-55m lens kit on my canon, and the moon looks verry tiny..haaha. thanks!

My len is the 55-250 kit that I bought with the T1i (have the 18-55 kit also), decent starter lens. No, I don't have to crop the photo, but when I do I don't increase size either, just crop. I use webpicasa to host my photos, and only upload 1000 pixels max size, if bigger picasa will downscale them to fit, but not upscale.

I do simple / basic PP as:
1: Import into PSE, crop not centered but slightly off center in rectangular crop
2: Levels>AutoLevel (I've done the eyedropper on white/grey and autolevels does a decent job on moon shots, enough to quickly automate)
3: Darken highlights 20%
4: unsharp mask 1 pixel usually 125-150%, I watch to make sure not oversharpened
5: Save as jpeg for upload, keep original RAW also

That's what I've learned. I'm about to buy a 1.4 TC, someday I'll get "L" glass but for now $$ going to other stuff.

Here is same shot, same PP, but un-cropped:

[maddagascar]

Originally Posted by mtbdudex

My len is the 55-250 kit that I bought with the T1i (have the 18-55 kit also), decent starter lens. No, I don't have to crop the photo, but when I do I don't increase size either, just crop. I use webpicasa to host my photos, and only upload 1000 pixels max size, if bigger picasa will downscale them to fit, but not upscale.

I do simple / basic PP as:
1: Import into PSE, crop not centered but slightly off center in rectangular crop
2: Levels>AutoLevel (I've done the eyedropper on white/grey and autolevels does a decent job on moon shots, enough to quickly automate)
3: Darken highlights 20%
4: unsharp mask 1 pixel usually 125-150%, I watch to make sure not oversharpened
5: Save as jpeg for upload, keep original RAW also


That's what I've learned. I'm about to buy a 1.4 TC, someday I'll get "L" glass but for now $$ going to other stuff.

Here is same shot, same PP, but un-cropped:

lol..kinda got confused about the crop part.. but i definitely need to pick up a new lens that can zoom that far. what do you mean about not increasing the size? cause those photos of the moon full in the picture look amazing. i just thought you cropped the photo regularly.

[Macshroomer]

When ever I wake up, I peek out the bedroom window right next to me, the mattress is level with the sill. I woke up to this big yellow thing setting above Mt. Sopris and the 2010 ESPN Winter XGames which I shoot every year for several clients. I love it when the light balance from moon to ambience is dead on, no burning or dodging needed. Nikon 200-400 F/4, D700, no crop, no PP....

[mtbdudex]

Very nice Macshroomer, great shot and place to live.

I took this just @ moonrise over the tree line this evening from my woodshop 2nd floor open window.
There was actually a very thin/whispy cloud layer making the moon more yellow than white at this moment.

[partyBoy]

*

[nickXedge]

Originally Posted by mtbdudex

My len is the 55-250... <snip>
I do simple / basic PP as:
1: Import into PSE, crop not centered but slightly off center in rectangular crop
2: Levels>AutoLevel (I've done the eyedropper on white/grey and autolevels does a decent job on moon shots, enough to quickly automate)
3: Darken highlights 20%
4: unsharp mask 1 pixel usually 125-150%, I watch to make sure not oversharpened
5: Save as jpeg for upload, keep original RAW also

That's what I've learned. I'm about to buy a 1.4 TC, someday I'll get "L" glass but for now $$ going to other stuff.

Here is same shot, same PP, but un-cropped:
<image snip>

I've been following this thread since you started it, because that was right after I made a post about buying my first DSLR and you recommended I "look up" with my 55-250mm IS lens. I finally had a good opportunity to take some moon shots tonight, however I'm a little disappointed in what I ended up with. I only got my camera a month ago, and I've had very little time to play around with it. When shooting tonight, I tried a variety of settings, and I understand how certain settings affect the result, I took an intro photo course last summer.

The first image is the RAW file of what I believe was my best shot, saved as a JPG to upload here. The second image is a JPG export of the RAW file, after I tried PPing it as per your instructions. I have PS: CS4, because I got it at education discount, but I don't really know how to do a lot with it yet.

I very much want criticism and tips on PP, please. My images came out alright, but when viewing them zoomed in, not even to 100%, the moon wasn't very sharp.

[mtbdudex]

Originally Posted by nickXedge

I've been following this thread since you started it, because that was right after I made a post about buying my first DSLR and you recommended I "look up" with my 55-250mm IS lens. I finally had a good opportunity to take some moon shots tonight, however I'm a little disappointed in what I ended up with. I only got my camera a month ago, and I've had very little time to play around with it. When shooting tonight, I tried a variety of settings, and I understand how certain settings affect the result, I took an intro photo course last summer.

The first image is the RAW file of what I believe was my best shot, saved as a JPG to upload here. The second image is a JPG export of the RAW file, after I tried PPing it as per your instructions. I have PS: CS4, because I got it at education discount, but I don't really know how to do a lot with it yet.

I very much want criticism and tips on PP, please. My images came out alright, but when viewing them zoomed in, not even to 100%, the moon wasn't very sharp.

Looking at your exif exposure data: 1/400 second, ƒ/5.6, ISO 100.
Aperture too wide, try f 9 - f 11, around 1/200 - 1/250 shutter combos, take a few at diff combos and see what works.
I've read the 55-250 kit is decent lens but soft at wide open aperture, so I try and stay away from wide open.
Slightly underexposed is ok for moon shots, ACR / CS4 you handle.
Also, focus looks not be 100% dialed, your XS has live view? (I don't know).
With my T1i and canon kit 55-250 I've found in live view 10x auto focus does a decent job, I make sure to pick a "contrasty" part of the moon for focusing.
Once focused, I turn to manual, make sure IS is off, mirror lock enabled, I use a remote trigger RC-1 on 2 seconds.

Good luck, shoot more and have fun.

[nickXedge]

Originally Posted by mtbdudex

Looking at your exif exposure data: 1/400 second, ƒ/5.6, ISO 100.
Aperture too wide, try f 9 - f 11, around 1/200 - 1/250 shutter combos, take a few at diff combos and see what works.
I've read the 55-250 kit is decent lens but soft at wide open aperture, so I try and stay away from wide open.
Slightly underexposed is ok for moon shots, ACR / CS4 you handle.
Also, focus looks not be 100% dialed, your XS has live view? (I don't know).
With my T1i and canon kit 55-250 I've found in live view 10x auto focus does a decent job, I make sure to pick a "contrasty" part of the moon for focusing.
Once focused, I turn to manual, make sure IS is off, mirror lock enabled, I use a remote trigger RC-1 on 2 seconds.

Good luck, shoot more and have fun.

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep trying and post when I get something good. When you say "stay away from wide open", you mean shoot at like 200-225mm and not the full 250mm right? Yes, the XS has live view, I didn't think to use it to check focus, that's a good idea, I'll do that. What is mirror lock? That is something I haven't heard of. And I don't have a remote trigger, but I use the 2 second delay so I don't shake or move the camera while it's on the tripod. Although, I guess shooting at 1/200 - 1/250 doesn't require a tripod? Even with IS off?