Nightski

I set out to get one of those "BIG" moon pictures with the moon at the horizon with some foreground included. The first night was the night that the sun was setting within minutes of the moon. It took me a little longer than I had planned on to get out to the middle of the lake. Plus I had my 100mm lens on. The moon did not look very big. :-(

I got some advice from lighthouse and went back out the next night armed with my 150-500mm. But of course the optimal night was the night before and this time it was pitch dark when the moon came out and it was -10 degrees. So I just walked out to the middle of the lake and tried to focus on the moon. It was so dark I had a hard time pinpointing the spot on the lake where I had left my jeep. :-(

Next night. I've got my 150-500 and my flashlight. I did some calculating with a map of the lake and with the online DOF calculator and had a plan to be far enough away to get the trees on the shoreline in focus to infinity and get a silhouette of the moon. Another -10 night .. but that's the way it goes in Minnesota. Clear nights are cold. I did manage to get the trees in focus, but not to infinity. The moon is soft, it looks like a goofy shaped moon, and I have horrible chromatic aberration.

This month I plan to go back with a headlamp so I can see if I'm at the infinity mark on my lens. The flashlight was very hard to use while trying to manual focus on the trees with that big old lens on the tripod. If I have the trees in focus and I am at the infinity mark on my lens will I get a sharp moon?

Moonrise on the Fish Houses

(Download)

Tree Silhouette on Moon

(Download)

Jackinthebox Loc: travel the world

Very interesting picture. Thanks for posting. :thumbup:

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

It looks good Sandra.
Especially on the download. :thumbup:

Leave your parking lights on so you don't loose your Jeep. :shock: :lol:
(Wondering why you would wonder that far away from your ride.)

Nightski

Because I had to be about 1/3 mile away from the trees at 500mm and F/11 to get the trees in focus to infinity. I won't drive on the ice. It's a thing I have ...

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I never drove on the ice in Wyoming either.
But I heard of trucks and snowmobiles occasionally going through the ice.

Neither floated worth a darn.

I didn't even much care for walking on frozen lakes, to be honest.

But I liked seeing your Photograph. Thanks. :-D

Jackinthebox Loc: travel the world

Sorry, I cant help but asking, what kind of lake is that. You walked out to the middle of the lake?
Are you Jesus? You walk on water with a camera?

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

Those are both great pictures! The reason the moon seems out of focus is probably because it is low on the horizon it is soft simply because of the atmospheric distortion due to its low angle. That might account for the CA as well, though I didn't notice it. I think you did good! But be careful walking out into the middle of that lake!

Nightski

Is there anyway to get the moon sharp? The ice is 3 feet thick .. I just have an irrational fear of walking on frozen lakes ... the loud cracking almost sends me to the moon!

Nightski

It's a Minnesota lake in January .. people have been driving on them and building fish houses on them and racing on them for months now. :roll:

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

There are two possible things going on. The tree in your second picture may not actually be at infinity, so if you focus on that, the moon will be slightly out of focus. The solution would be to move farther from the tree. The other is simply that the "seeing" (atmospheric distortion) may be bad, and there is nothing you can do about that, other than hoping for better conditions next time. When the moon is high overhead, try the same settings (but you'll need much shorter exposures) and see what happens. You could "photoshop" in a sharper moon, but I prefer "real" shots, even if they aren't the best. You could also take the same shot a day or two earlier, while the land is still light up, and zoom out a bit..
As for the cracking ice... wait for this summer, and take out a boat!

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

It is hard to tell - you posted a low-res shot even on download - but the moon in the second one looks sharp to me. The colour and 'fuzzyness' are caused by the moon being so low. You are looking through a *huge* column of the atmosphere here. It needs a diagram to explain, but the atmosphere is something like 10 times thicker here than when shooting straight up. Unfortunately, that is always going to be the case when you are shooting to have foreground trees visible in the shot.

I think this is as good a shot as I have seen of this type, to be honest. You could try shooting from the opposite bank of the lake, maybe, but I think you will find the moon still looks the same. Oh, an in response to an earlier post, don't waste your time trying from a boat! You would be bobbing around so much that it would be impossible to even frame the shot...

Nightski

So there are times when the moon is at the horizon that are better than others? Is it like the weather? Sometimes you have more atmospheric disturbance going on around it than others?

Okay .. just more tries. Yes .. I was thinking I need to back up a bit. Do you think I can do it with my current equipment.

Canon 6D
Sigma 150-500 F5.0-6.3 OS

I do have it on a tripod. I saw your comment on Sonny's pic about mirror lock up. I've never done that, but maybe it would be worth a try. That lens is so heavy the lightest touch makes it shake for seconds. I was using a timer, but maybe a longer timer or use my remotes. I had them with, but I need a headlamp to set them up if I'm working in the dark. Yes ... I have access to a boat, but there is no way I could keep my camera still. I might try a different spot on land this month. I like the middle of the lake because we have SO much tree cover where I live it's hard to find a large open area that somebody doesn't own. I've been chased off by farm dogs at night. :shock:

I want one like this!

(Download)

Nightski

Thanks bloke .. good point about the boat ... that would not work with the 150-500.

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

The idea of a boat was tongue-in-cheek, of course! And yes, your equipment is just fine.
About being chased out by the dogs...I had someone come after me with a shot gun once! Luckily they calmed down a bit once they knew what I was doing!

Nightski

Yes .. of course .. I'm a little slow sometimes .. :oops: