wesm Loc: Los Altos CA

I was in Joshua Tree NP last month for shooting the super moon. While there, I tried wandering around one of the groves and shooting some of the trees in the brilliant full moonlight. It was after the moon was well up, and there was almost no color in the night sky, almost monochrome landscape, just a hint of a cream or washed-out yellow.

I didn't know what white balance setting to use. I tried several, ultimately leaving it on auto, thinking I would fix it in post-processing. I had read that moonlight had a color temperature around 4100-4200K, but any and all white balance adjustments look terrible. I tried applying several photo filter layers, and then almost completely desaturating the colors, that looks the closest to what I remember seeing. I prefer to spend minimal time post-processing, and more time wandering around and taking shots

My goal is to take photos that will capture how I felt when I was there. How do I expose for a moonlit scene, say in the desert with no humidity, that will capture the colors?

I was using a Sigma 20mm f2 art lens on a 5Dmark3 body, on a tripod.

thanks,
Wes

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

If you can't get it right with any of the presets, set a custom white balance (the procedures differ a little from camera to camera, so check manual)!

Fred Harwood Loc: Sheffield, Mass.

I read somewhere that clear sky moonlight was near daylight kelvin.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

It depends. If you want the moonlight to retain that slightly warm cast it gets from passing through the airborne dust of the desert sky use daylight wb. If you want that tint zeroed out use a custom white balance. Sunlight reflected off the moon does not pick up any colour shift from the moon although it often appears blueish or silvery. This effect is due to the low light level which causes your eyes to use some of the portion of the retina which is essentially colour blind but is more sensitive to blue/green light. This why a bright red flower will appear to be a dark red under moonlight but the leaves will appear to be a brighter shade of green. But this colour shift toward blue will not affect the camera sensor the same way. You are right that the colour temperature is lower than that of direct sunlight but it does not appear that way to the human eye due to the effect described. It does however appear warmer to the camera than to the eye. Using daylight wb will retain that warmth, custom wb will remove it.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I use daylight as it is daylight on the moon.

Shoeless_Photographer Loc: Lexington

I'm wondering if using a grey card or a something white and adjusting in post would help.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Think of the moon as a giant white reflector, and what is bouncing off that big white reflector, that's right, the sun, and that's called sunlight, and so auto white balance should work. I adjust slightly in post but usually not much.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

GEEPOPS

I've always used daylight since the moon is only reflecting sunlight

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Just shoot RAW and you can change it to whatever you want in PP.
Other than that set a custom white balance if shooting JPEG. But you are essentially baking in the white balance in a JPEG file.

Best,
Todd Ferguson
Harrisburg, NC

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I use auto WB but if setting it would use daylight. I am not sure how camera sensors work but the eye uses rods mostly at night which is monochromatic. If camera sensors are similar that could be why the photos are more monochromatic in nature. Perhaps one of the sensor engineers on site can explain the way they "see" in very low light levels. I know in the desert under a full moon movement is very easy and vision is very clear but all is monochromatic looking.
So I hope one of the experts will chime in and help us all.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Shoot raw, set it to auto WB and set it set it in post. Unless you are using a 5DIII in jpg mode, why waste the time? Exposing for moonlight has lots of variables to contend with. Way to hard to envision what conditions you are describing. I have taken some using 30 seconds or under and others on bulb for 1-15 minutes. In any case bracket and by all means have the review screen so you can see the histogram to insure you are not climbing either of the sides.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Be sure you get the JPEG exposure right, first, even if recording raw or raw + JPEG. Then use Daylight WB. It's daytime on the sunny side of the moon. If anything, it's a little warmer color temperature than here on Earth, since there is no blue sky, but 5500K or so seems to be the standard. I like to start with an exposure of 1/(4x ISO) at f/8, then bracket in 1/3 stops each way for 2 stops. Use the base ISO on the camera. (For example, record images at 1/400 @ f/8 @ ISO 100, then stop down to f/16 by 1/3 stop each frame. Then open up to f/4 by 1/3 stop each frame.

This bracketing procedure will help compensate for the Earth's atmospheric conditions where you are. If you're working ONLY in raw, you can just bracket in full stop intervals, although I always use 1/3, to maximize dynamic range in the image I ultimately use.

AWB is fine if recording raw, since you're going to change the WB in post, anyway.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

I read the same thing. Since the light from the moon is reflected from the sun, daylight WB is at least a good starting point.

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

I don't quite understand calling moonlight daylight. To me, daylight has two major parts, of course the most significant is the sunlight, which is what you get from the moon's refection. The second part of daylight is the blue sky! And that is missing at night. You can shoot raw and experiment with various results, or try several setting to see what you like. You are welcome to go for accurate re-creation of what your eyes saw, or go for a feeling of warmth or coolness depending on the mood you wish to inspire. Don't forget, the sensitivity of the color receptors in your eyes is not same in bright conditions and low light level conditions. So a true rendering by the camera may not seem natural to you when viewed in bright light.