wendyjo Loc: Iowa

I need help, Nikon D5300 55-300mm AF lens, my partial pics are ok but full moon are grainy and not showing the detail I would like, also how can I get the moon and still have other things show up in image, trees, landscape , been using manual 1/125 0r 250 F 5 ISO 400 or higher.
Any help is appreciated

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Chris F. Loc: San Francisco

I shoot with Canon, but would recommend keeping the iso set lower. I leave mine at 100. Place your camera on a tripod, depending on your lens, adjust your shutter speed. If the moon is bright I think you're in the range now but may need to slow it down a bit depending on your camera. I would leave aperture set to auto. Hope this helps.

Chris

Dan Copeland Loc: Hamilton Ontario Canada

It is called lighting A full moon has the sun shining directly at it thus no shadows.. Like shooting at high noon very flat images. In the other phases of the moon you see detail because now there are shadows ..

That's my Story and I cam sticking to it...

wendyjo Loc: Iowa

That's kind of what I was thinking, lol!

wendyjo Loc: Iowa

Thank you


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burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It is day on the moon. So 1/ISO for the shutter speed, at f/16 if you are there. Since the atmosphere robs a bit of light on its way to your lens, this becomes f/10 or so.

Use Daylight White Balance, and bracket.

If you want surrounding terrain, two exposures must be merged in Photoshop using layer masks. The brightness range is too great, otherwise.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

They're already better than any of the Moon shots I've made. My problem is more the optics -- not having a long enough lens that is actually really sharp. And not so much the exposure -- in that I knew shooting the Moon is a "Day Light Sunny" exposure more or less.

Good tries, and I'm sure you'll get a great one soon. Try shooting more at half phases. Yes, for more surface details from shadows.

Gitzo Loc: Indiana

http://sunrisesunsetmap.com/

You can use this website to find what time the moon rises and sets at your location; have your camera ready on a tripod.....as soon as the moon starts to rise above the horizon, get some trees, a building, or anything that's interesting between your position and the rising moon; also, if you like to play around in photo shop, you can combine a shot of the moon, just above the horizon, (and made with your longest lens ), with another shot made with a wider lens; You can make the moon look much bigger that way.

As others have already noted, the full moon is totally "flat lighted", (just like taking pictures at noon when the sun is directly over head; the lack of any shadows makes everything look "flat" and "featureless".

Also remember; because the earth is rotating, the moon "appears" to be moving; (actually, it's "us" who are moving ); the longer the lens you use to photograph the moon, it not only magnifies the moon's size, it also magnifies it's rate of movement. With just a 200mm lens (on a full frame sensor camera ), the moon appears to be 4 times bigger, and it also appears to be moving 4 times faster! In the case of a full moon, it's so bright that you can use a fast enough shutter speed to get a sharp image.

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Hi Wendyjo
These are actually pretty nice shots!! You are very close to getting get shots. I played with two of them just to show you what a little playing in post can do.:) I don't know much about post. I just dink around till they look good.:) And some times I don't have to do any post. These were also changed to B/W.

But the Moon changes every day so it setting change every time you shoot it.:) The small 1/4 Moon is hard and so is the Full. In between you will love them.:) Send me an email if you want to play.:) It is at the bottom of ever post I make.:)

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Greg Brandt Loc: illinois

After a lot of experimentation with my D5100, this is what I used as my starting point for a full moon photo -
f5.6,
ISO 180,
Exposure 1/400,
Exposure Bias -3.7,
300mm,
White Balance - Auto,
Manual Mode,
Exposure Delay Enabled,
10 second shutter delay,
Wired shutter release,
Tripod (neck not extended) and on grass/ground,
live view mode, magnified to focus tightly.

Regis Loc: Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

Don't take any photos of a full moon and expect to see many details because of the brightness or glare that the full moon presents unless you use a special filter and have your camera hooked up to a telescope.
100-200 ISO is a good setting and 1/60-1/250 are good aperture settings. Your settings are in the good range. 1/4 to 1/2 to 3/4 moon phases are best for moon photography because you will get the deep shadows that bring out the detail on the moon's surface. Use some contrast and sharpness in PP to bring out the detail.

Canon 7D Mk2 - Tamron 150-600mm @ 600mm - 1/200 - F/6.3 - ISO @ 125

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jerrylh Loc: Texas

I tried an in-camera HDR with my SX-50 and got results similar to the photo by Regis, not really this good. I had to try it 4 times to get something I liked.

Regis Loc: Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

The Canon SX-50 camera is a great camera for your money.

Grannysweet Loc: Sikeston, MO

Well that makes sense... Never thought about that.