Random pic of the day thread

dball711 said:
Yes, taken last night when the clouds cleared. Picked up a new zoom lens and was experimenting...think I can do better after I find some staking software for my Mac.
Click to expand...

Need details!! I’ve been reading a bit about astrophotography. Maybe Saturday night with the full moon I’ll try some stuff. Just hard to get out where there’s not a light of light noise
 
hiimsean said:
Need details!! I’ve been reading a bit about astrophotography. Maybe Saturday night with the full moon I’ll try some stuff. Just hard to get out where there’s not a light of light noise
Click to expand...

Moon photo details...

I'm using a Sony A6400 with a Sony 70-350mm telephoto lens, given the camera is a crop sensor the effective 35mm equivalent focal range is 525mm. The actual settings I used in my photo are 1/320s, f6.3, ISO 100.

Here's how you can set up any camera with a manual mode to take decent Moon photos.

First you'll need a few things...
  • A camera with a manual mode
  • A tripod
  • A telephoto lens, the higher the focal distance the better, minimum 250mm
  • A reasonably clear night
Set your camera to manual mode. Set the aperture to F11. Set the shutter speed to 1/30th of a second. Set your ISO to the lowest rating, usually 100. Set your focus mode to manual, auto focus will not work well here. Turn off any stabilisation assist on the lens or the camera body. Use a remote shutter control or set the shutter button option to a 2-5 second delay meaning when you press the shutter button the camera will wait 2-5 seconds before triggering the shutter giving you time to take your hands off the camera and reduce shake.

With the camera on the tripod, find the moon, adjust the focus and take a shot. Some cameras have a setting to zoom in on the focus when you are in manual, use this zoomed in as much as possible so you can see the detail. If the moon is too bright and you cant see the detail then increase the shutter speed or reduce the aperture by one F-stop. Do not make 2 adjustments at the same time. Adjust one or the other and check your shot (viewfinder or the screen). Keep making adjustments till you can see the detail. If the shot appears to dark than slow down the shutter speed or incase the Aperture by one F-stop. Again only adjust one or the other, see which adjustment, shutter or aperture gives you the results you want.

Helpfull hints...
  1. Don't worry about ambient light around you or the camera when photographing the moon, photographing the Milky Way or stars is different and in those cases you want a dark sky and to be away from the city lights unless thats the look you're after.
  2. The best moon photos are taken when the moon is not full. A partial moon will almost always render a better photo with visibly more surface texture.
  3. Remember the moon is a sphere, you want as much depth of field as possible meaning a higher F-number
  4. Take a bunch of photos at all different settings, once you find the right exposure then take a bunch more to practice focusing and chances are you get one or two nice shots.
  5. Fore a really sweet, super detailed photo consider using photo stacking software to merge 10-12 shots into on super detailed photo.
Finally, post your results, good luck!
 
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