Non Aviation Photography Thread

[Jbong]

Nice job I think it looks nice. But I did google the subject and found this might be helpful.

http://www.adidap.com/2006/09/18/tips-on-how-to-take-successful-moon-pictures/

[BillOz]

Tonight's Moon
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...
Any suggestions?

Try to get a little closer to your subject.  Try to get within 100,000 miles, there's less atmospheric pollution  

That's a pretty good shot of it.  Did you have to crop it, or is that full frame?

[Matt Ottosen]

Nice job I think it looks nice. But I did google the subject and found this might be helpful.

http://www.adidap.com/2006/09/18/tips-on-how-to-take-successful-moon-pictures/

Thanks, I'll check that out.

Try to get a little closer to your subject.  Try to get within 100,000 miles, there's less atmospheric pollution  

I'll see what I can do!

That's a pretty good shot of it.  Did you have to crop it, or is that full frame?

Thank you!  I had to crop it quite a bit.

[Chris V]

Maybe adjust the white balance a little to whiten it up some?

[Chris V]

Messing around with my telescope tonight.

[Joe Copalman]

"My God. It's full of stars..."

Awesome shot Chris.

[Jay Beckman]

If you consider what makes up the "Sunny 16 Rule" (1 / ISO @ f/16) then simply use that but change the f/stop to f/11 which some call the "Moonie 11 Rule."

The Moon is simply a sun-lit object and you'll need to makes some adjustments based on how much of the disk is visible and how near the horizon it is.

[BillOz]

A tripod is virtually essential, and as high a shutter speed as you can, given your ISO.  Consider the general rule of thumb that the shutter speed should be at least 1/mm of lens, and with your 500mm and the digital magnification of 1.5 for Nikon, and you should be at 1/750 sec. for handheld.  But that is all general rules of thumb, more for everyday shooting.  You may be able to go slower using Vibration Reduction, but here is something else to consider.

If you move the end of the lens, where your hand supports it, even .001 inch, which is 1/3 the thickness of a sheet of paper, during the exposure, then the view of your subject (the moon) effectively moves 70,400 ft., or 13.3333 miles.  So this simply means the steadier the camera is the sharper your shot will be, (duh).  So are you steady enough not to move .001 inch.

Another thing to consider though, is resolution.  With a 12 Megapixel camera, with approximately 4272 pixels across, if you were able to get a total full frame width shot, every pixel would be representing roughly 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile, so detail is somewhat arbitrary, but still, the steadier your shot, the higher the resolution will appear.  So going back to the movement of your lens by only .001 in., this represents the moon moving by about 26 pixels, and with the resolution showing such a huge amount of moon area per pixel, it probably doesn't look too bad, until you start looking at it pixel by pixel.

Now also consider you must pan with the moon.  Don't laugh.  The moon moves at ~2300 mph.  That's faster than any jet currently flying.  At 1/1000 sec. exposure, the moon moves 3.4 ft., so I guess it's not worth considering, since that's much less than 1 pixel.

Chris, do you have any pics. of the moon where you are zoomed in as much as reasonable with the telescope, and how small an area of the moon can you get to fill the frame?  Can you see the Apollo 11 landing site?  Just kidding, but some people claim they can.

[Paul Dumm]

Bill, You have way too much time on your hands. LOL

[Jay Beckman]

Waiter, there's a fly on my Moon!

[Chris V]

Bill I need to get a adapter so I can take shots through the telescope at some point but for now this is my 1st attempt with home made piggy back mount. I need to modify this mount some more or see if I can make something to mount directly to the equatorial mount. The telescope is a bit of a process to set up and when set up weighs close to 90 lbs.

[Bubak]

Jay very nice!!!!

[Bubak]

...from saturday, Brian Bromberg, Tempe....

[azbill]

I like to combine photography with my passion for herpetology, as well as aviation.
An adult male Blacktailed Rattlesnake from the Huachuca Mts. of southern Az.

[azbill]

Bubak, great shot!
I'm guessing the lighting was less than optimal too? What ISO did you use?