C&C Please: Cold Moon 12/6/2014

I guess it's about time I posted something. This is the first shot I've had time to process of the Cold Moon over my neighborhood on Dec. 6. I'll be uploading more later. Meanwhile, any feedback will be appreciated.

Exposure data:
Canon EOS REBEL T3i
EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 @ 300mm
1/80s @ f/20
ISO 400

That is beautiful! Excellent Shot!!!

Nicely done. I like the placement of the branches. 

Very nice shot!!

I've always wondered, how do you get a shot like this.  Are you taking 2 shots and combining afterwards in post?  

Josh Jofoto wrote: I've always wondered, how do you get a shot like this.  Are you taking 2 shots and combining afterwards in post?  

While it's fairly common to do composites with the moon, Josh, this is a single exposure. The 300mm focal length makes the moon seem closer to the branches, and since I used a narrow aperture on this one, the silhouettes of the branches are  fairly sharp, too.

As long as you have a steady setup and use a remote or self timer setting, shots like this aren't too hard to get. The tricky part is being in the right place.  The moon moves much faster than you might think.

-Dana

Thanks for the positive comments, everyone!

What a great shot.  Having something in the frame besides just the moon really puts the subject matter in the as the focal point for me.  I will have to try this sometime, moons just don't like me to much.

PT Talker wrote:

Josh Jofoto wrote: I've always wondered, how do you get a shot like this.  Are you taking 2 shots and combining afterwards in post?  

While it's fairly common to do composites with the moon, Josh, this is a single exposure. The 300mm focal length makes the moon seem closer to the branches, and since I used a narrow aperture on this one, the silhouettes of the branches are  fairly sharp, too.

As long as you have a steady setup and use a remote or self timer setting, shots like this aren't too hard to get. The tricky part is being in the right place.  The moon moves much faster than you might think.

-Dana

Would you normally use a larger aperture for a moon shot if you weren't trying to keep the branches sharp? Just asking from an education standpoint. Thanks!

Nicely captured!

shelland wrote:

PT Talker wrote:

Josh Jofoto wrote: I've always wondered, how do you get a shot like this.  Are you taking 2 shots and combining afterwards in post?  

While it's fairly common to do composites with the moon, Josh, this is a single exposure. The 300mm focal length makes the moon seem closer to the branches, and since I used a narrow aperture on this one, the silhouettes of the branches are  fairly sharp, too.

As long as you have a steady setup and use a remote or self timer setting, shots like this aren't too hard to get. The tricky part is being in the right place.  The moon moves much faster than you might think.

-Dana

Would you normally use a larger aperture for a moon shot if you weren't trying to keep the branches sharp? Just asking from an education standpoint. Thanks!

One of the interesting things about shooting the moon is that the light it's reflecting is coming from the sun, so it's very bright. That means you can shoot with a small aperture and still use a fast shutter speed, which you need. So, in answer to your question, no, you wouldn't normally need to use a wide aperture. In fact, since the moon is a big sphere, shooting with a wide open aperture can cause part of it to be out of focus. f/8 to f/11 is a reasonable place to start if you're just concentrating on the moon itself. You certainly can go wide with it for different effects, and I have several other shots from this same night with blurred branches. I'll try to upload some examples soon.

Hope this is helpful.

-Dana

^^^ What he said. "Albedo .39" means that the moon is 40% as bright as the sun. That's really, really bright.

I will add here that with a shorter lens (200mm) I've had more success at f/2.8 than f/8. Perhaps the lens characteristics play a role here?  Not sure, but there are lots of tutorials out there on lunar photography, with lots of advice.

garyrhook wrote: ^^^ What he said. "Albedo .39" means that the moon is 40% as bright as the sun. That's really, really bright.

I will add here that with a shorter lens (200mm) I've had more success at f/2.8 than f/8. Perhaps the lens characteristics play a role here?  Not sure, but there are lots of tutorials out there on lunar photography, with lots of advice.

Good point, Gary and thanks for adding it. I'm sure that lens characteristics play a huge role, as will focal length in general. The mind reels when it comes to the physics involved with a subject that far away.

Just for fun and demonstration purposes, here are the 2 shots I took just before the one above. (Just quick crops of the jpeg files here, so probably not the best rendition.) Both of these are with the same lens at f/ll, one focused on the moon and one on the branches.