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Moon shots
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Jul 25, 2021 12:51:00   #
Bennphoto Loc: Vermont
 
I would appreciate your recommendations for which settings to use for Moon shots to include the foreground
I am using a Nikon 850 with a tripod ,stabilization off and have available both a 70-200mm 2.8 and a 200-500 mm5.6
Thank you

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Jul 25, 2021 13:37:24   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
There is no single "best" combination of settings, especially when including foreground. Your choices will depend on how much depth of field you desire, how much noise (from higher ISO) you can live with or edit out, whether you wish to show detail in the moon or let it be featureless white. If there's a slight breeze, you would want to compensate with a faster shutter speed than if all is motionless.

If are looking to photograph landscapes during a full moon, there are usually one or two evenings and mornings each cycle when the moonrise or moonset corresponds closely with sunset/sunrise. Shooting during those times enables a single exposure. If you wait 'til full dark, you run into the limits of dynamic range, requiring HDR or another light source for your foreground, or a graduated neutral density filter (assuming the composition cooperates) or editing two exposures into a composite. Shooting in raw will usually give you more dynamic range.

#1 and 3 are examples of moonset at sunrise, #2 is moonrise at sunset. Settings varied widely.







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Jul 25, 2021 16:34:31   #
Bennphoto Loc: Vermont
 
Thank you

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Jul 25, 2021 21:34:25   #
Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA
 
Use the 500mm at f5.6 or f6.5. iso 100. Use live view and increase the shutter speed until you get good contrast view of light and dark areas. Use single point auto focus and use the 10 second timer to let the camera take the picture with your hands off. Tweak the results in photoshop or your editor to enhance the contrast, midtone contrast and shadows and highlights. You can crop your photo if you want a larger view of the moon. Post your results.

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Jul 26, 2021 08:31:20   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
Something here should help -

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/tips-for-photographing-the-moon.html?cid=img_en_us:EML:LE:1162019:January:2018-01-07-MOONEmail:na:btn:article1&ET_CID=2603596&ET_RID=363565341&SC_ID=0032400000mYZXzAAO
https://www.lightstalking.com/bite-size-tips-photograph-moon/
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/howtophoto/index.htm
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/how-do-you-photograph-the-moon--26980

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Jul 26, 2021 08:52:03   #
Guyserman Loc: Benton, AR
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
There is no single "best" combination of settings, especially when including foreground. Your choices will depend on how much depth of field you desire, how much noise (from higher ISO) you can live with or edit out, whether you wish to show detail in the moon or let it be featureless white. If there's a slight breeze, you would want to compensate with a faster shutter speed than if all is motionless.

If are looking to photograph landscapes during a full moon, there are usually one or two evenings and mornings each cycle when the moonrise or moonset corresponds closely with sunset/sunrise. Shooting during those times enables a single exposure. If you wait 'til full dark, you run into the limits of dynamic range, requiring HDR or another light source for your foreground, or a graduated neutral density filter (assuming the composition cooperates) or editing two exposures into a composite. Shooting in raw will usually give you more dynamic range.

#1 and 3 are examples of moonset at sunrise, #2 is moonrise at sunset. Settings varied widely.
There is no single "best" combination of... (show quote)



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Jul 26, 2021 09:01:07   #
larryepage Loc: North Texas area
 
Bennphoto wrote:
I would appreciate your recommendations for which settings to use for Moon shots to include the foreground
I am using a Nikon 850 with a tripod ,stabilization off and have available both a 70-200mm 2.8 and a 200-500 mm5.6
Thank you


Linda captured the situation very well. I would just add that the surface of the moon is illuminated by exactly the same sunlight that falls on the earth at noon. That helps to get a grasp on the magnitude of the challenge.

Ansel Adams wrote a detailed description of how he captured the negative for his famous image, "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico." A search based on that name will uncover many of the countless places that account is available on the Internet. But even that negative, although it captured all the necessary detail, was quite flat, dull, and uninteresting. A huge amount of darkroom work was necessary to produce the final image that we are familiar with.

You have to decide what final effect you are looking for. Some folks capture one image when the sun is still fairly high and stack it with an image of the moon taken after dark. The result cam be striking, but many viewers think it is contrived. Your D850 is capable of really wide dynamic range in a single image, which you can then edit later to fine tune your final image.

But keep in mind that very few people have ever gone out, stuck their camera on a tripod, spun a few dials, pressed the shutter release, and captured a perfect image of this type. Doing so (at least well) is fairly difficult. Expect to experiment, hav6e some failures, learn from them, then go out again and do better.

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Jul 26, 2021 09:35:40   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
larryepage wrote:
Linda captured the situation very well. I would just add that the surface of the moon is illuminated by exactly the same sunlight that falls on the earth at noon. That helps to get a grasp on the magnitude of the challenge...
Thanks Larry. In two of Jerry's links they said "must bracket" if including landscape -- as if they never considered shooting the moon when there is available light

1. 1/500 sec (no tripod and I'm wobbly), f/6.7 (because I had no interest in the foreground being in focus), ISO 400. Heavily cropped. White balance adjusted in raw editor to get dark blue sky with white moon.

2. Shooting foreground that's a long distance from where you're set up allows you to keep aperture large (shallow depth of field). This was with a Canon bridge camera, SX50, shortly after sunrise. Sun was hidden by a hill which is why the rocks are still in shadow.


(Download)



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Jul 26, 2021 09:45:10   #
Brokenland
 
Use a lens with a higher aperture/f-stop (f/4-5.6 or higher) for better results

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Jul 26, 2021 10:14:31   #
photoman43
 
Bennphoto wrote:
I would appreciate your recommendations for which settings to use for Moon shots to include the foreground
I am using a Nikon 850 with a tripod ,stabilization off and have available both a 70-200mm 2.8 and a 200-500 mm5.6
Thank you


In addition to camera settings, you need to plan our moon shots. To include landscape details, try shooting the moon with some ambient light still present. That means as a general rule, one night before actual full moon or maybe two nights before.

For camera settings, use a tripod, RAW, a focal length between 200mm and 500mm, and the loony f 11 rule:
Iso 200, shutter speed 1/200; aperture at f 11--as a starting point. Then adjust as needed. And bracket your exposures.

Google Photo Pills--How to photograph the moon and download their pdf.

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Jul 26, 2021 10:23:55   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
photoman43 wrote:
In addition to camera settings, you need to plan our moon shots. To include landscape details, try shooting the moon with some ambient light still present. That means as a general rule, one night before actual full moon or maybe two nights before...
The same idea (except using a day or two after full) works for moonset at dawn as a couple of my photos in this thread demonstrate. Of course, you have to enjoy getting up early

Another tip for the OP re moon location and set/rise times: they change significantly both daily and by seasons. Websites and phone apps that give location relative to your own + the official time of moonset/sunrise and sunset/moonrise can produce better results than randomly roaming around the countryside like I usually do.

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Jul 26, 2021 11:02:42   #
photoman43
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
The same idea (except using a day or two after full) works for moonset at dawn as a couple of my photos in this thread demonstrate. Of course, you have to enjoy getting up early

Another tip for the OP re moon location and set/rise times: they change significantly both daily and by seasons. Websites and phone apps that give location relative to your own + the official time of moonset/sunrise and sunset/moonrise can produce better results than randomly roaming around the countryside like I usually do.
The same idea (except using a day or two i after ... (show quote)


I use The Photographers Ephemeris (free) on my desktop and Laptop to plan my moon and sun shots. Photo Pills does the same thing. For a phone App, they both cost money.

https://photoephemeris.com/en/web

https://www.photopills.com/

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Jul 26, 2021 11:40:52   #
Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA
 
I have the D850 and lenses you mention. 200-500 @ 500. I have taken moonshots with and without tripod. I used VR without tripod while braced back against a building.

This was one of the shots without a tripod. D850 lets you crop!



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Jul 26, 2021 14:01:03   #
jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania
 
Bennphoto wrote:
I would appreciate your recommendations for which settings to use for Moon shots to include the foreground
I am using a Nikon 850 with a tripod ,stabilization off and have available both a 70-200mm 2.8 and a 200-500 mm5.6
Thank you


-------
I would use the 200-500mm lens for the extra zoom.

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Jul 26, 2021 20:06:26   #
Old Edmundo
 
My father told me over 60yrs ago. “All you need to remember is the moon is white rock in the sunlight.”

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