shungokusatsu29
Senior Member
I was very much into my Gondola shots 
Photos from the D3200
- Thread starter brads
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shungokusatsu29
Senior Member
And lastly, some flowers that were behind me while waiting for the airport shuttle! I'm thinking of getting a 40mm f/2.8 and an 85mm f/1.8 or 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 OH and a 28mm. I think the 28mm and 40mm are a definite but need to choose b/t the 85mm(s). Suggestions? I want to do some macro shots, but something to capture landscapes and nighttime a bit better.
brads
Senior Member
The weather was a bit crazy in Melbourne today. Tried to capture the bees on the blossom. They all blew away! Hence, Kaffir Lime fruits from my garden. I use the leaves more than the fruits but that doesn't mean I don't find them interesting. Nikkor 40mm f2.8. ISO 100. Cheers, Brad
Ijustwant1
Senior Member
Now you need a glass of Vodka and some cranberry juice :triumphant:The weather was a bit crazy in Melbourne today. Tried to capture the bees on the blossom. They all blew away! Hence, Kaffir Lime fruits from my garden. I use the leaves more than the fruits but that doesn't mean I don't find them interesting. Nikkor 40mm f2.8. ISO 100. Cheers, Brad
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brads
Senior Member
With the encouragement of people on Nikonites, I've started shooting in RAW. Being somewhat ignorant of the sky and the moon, I decided to take a photo of it yesterday afternoon with the D3200. I even put the camera on AUTO. With a little bit of fiddling with the raw file, I was surprised. This was just with the 18-200 Nikkor. Cheers, Brad
sOnIc
Senior Member
Just a quick note, nice shot of the Moon Brad, got some good cratering there (full moon is rubbish).. but my suggestion would be shoot raw yes; always, but that means you can underexpose and make up the brightness in post-processing .. the Moon is moving quite quickly and you always want to keep the shutter speed as fast as possible; you have some motion blur .. you're better off under-exposing to get a clearer shot without any clipping; then use the RAW exposure compensation and levels tools in Photoshop to get it back to full brightness. I'd suggest spot/center-weighted metering, focus on the lunar edge, perhaps go up in ISO to shoot quicker. As for 'angular size', yes 300mm is going to have a lot of 'frame', but with 24mp you will still get a reasonable image... Probably best with some cloud or something to add to the shot. Good luck .. .
The moon is surprisingly bright on a clear night, this one was shot at 1/200 sec f6.3 ISO 100 280mm, no beer, RAW with Lightroom's default settings. Nov 2012 8.00 a nice cold night! No cropping or exposure compensation.
This session of shooting the moon was more successful than my first effort, where I tended to overexpose the shots (but that shoot involved lots of beer!)
This session of shooting the moon was more successful than my first effort, where I tended to overexpose the shots (but that shoot involved lots of beer!)
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A close up crop, +30 exposure and a strong contrast s curve added. Even with the D3200,s resolution its not that good, having to crop that much. When I get chance I aim to hire a 500mm zoom and have a play with that, or try an find an adaptor for my mirror telescope (Aldi special, good for non serious star gazers).
I want to try a long reach lens though as Sigma do some zooms that are not to expensive and should do for my level and use it would get.
I want to try a long reach lens though as Sigma do some zooms that are not to expensive and should do for my level and use it would get.
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brads
Senior Member
Hi Brad,
internet back on finally.
How much cropping did you do? I did a shoot of the moon last year with my 55-300 and even at the 300 end there is more frame than moon
Hi boys. sOnic's (I wish everyone had names!) tips are extremely useful and I'll keep them here for the next time I go moon walking. It's certainly a fascinating subject. I'm not too far from a dark country road so I might venture out for some stars too.
This is the original image, marce. A LOT of cropping. You'll also see how bright the sky was. Full daylight really at about 5pm here with no cloud. Cheers, Brad
That is bright. Though using ACR and lowering the exposure should give you good detail with little noise. In one of the recent photo mags I get there was an article on shooting the moon and starts and in that they did mention how bright the moon was, I am trying to find the article. My first shots were manual 1/40 sec ISO 400, the moon was a bright blob in the middle of the screen.
I'd really love to shoot some stars, but between the light pollution and never ending clouds up here in the sunny North of the UK, I don't get much chance. I did drive to the moors one night, but standing on a desolate moor in the pitch black freezing was a bit daunting, and non of my loving Family wanted to come with me!
I'd really love to shoot some stars, but between the light pollution and never ending clouds up here in the sunny North of the UK, I don't get much chance. I did drive to the moors one night, but standing on a desolate moor in the pitch black freezing was a bit daunting, and non of my loving Family wanted to come with me!
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sOnIc
Senior Member
I got a project/challenge for you: .. . the Harvest Moon . ..
Tomorrow (18th) and surrounding days, at approximately 6pm, almost exactly to the East, the Moon will rise looking large and colourful, a great photo opportunity. Looking large because of the perspective 'Moon illusion', and colourful because of the equinox sunset lighting and atmospheric reddening when low in the sky.
This short youtube video explains everything and shows some examples of great photos: ScienceCasts: The Harvest Moon
More great example images: one - two - three. These were taken with pretty big lenses looking at distant subjects; perfectly planned to get the Moon in the shot. But you don't need a massive lens to get a good picture, it's more about the composition and context.
I'd recommend a web tool like SkyViewCafe, or a lunar calculator, or an app like Stellarium to find out the exact time of Moon rise where you are, and the exact direction so you can plan the scene; using foreground objects to make the shot.
Best of luck to anyone who has a go, it's pouring down with rain here at the moment : (
Tomorrow (18th) and surrounding days, at approximately 6pm, almost exactly to the East, the Moon will rise looking large and colourful, a great photo opportunity. Looking large because of the perspective 'Moon illusion', and colourful because of the equinox sunset lighting and atmospheric reddening when low in the sky.
This short youtube video explains everything and shows some examples of great photos: ScienceCasts: The Harvest Moon
More great example images: one - two - three. These were taken with pretty big lenses looking at distant subjects; perfectly planned to get the Moon in the shot. But you don't need a massive lens to get a good picture, it's more about the composition and context.
I'd recommend a web tool like SkyViewCafe, or a lunar calculator, or an app like Stellarium to find out the exact time of Moon rise where you are, and the exact direction so you can plan the scene; using foreground objects to make the shot.
Best of luck to anyone who has a go, it's pouring down with rain here at the moment : (
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sOnIc
Senior Member
I'm hopeful, weathers ok, and I've planned a shot...
But I need to point out that this is actually Northern Hemisphere only, I'm struggling to understand the details as I've never been 'down under' and it's very strange to think of the Sun/Moon/stars etc all going from right to left in the sky (instead of left to right) - not only are you upside down; you're in reverse as well! I desperately want to see the southern sky one day; the Magellanic clouds and different constellations etc; would be a bit like being stood on another planet...
But I need to point out that this is actually Northern Hemisphere only, I'm struggling to understand the details as I've never been 'down under' and it's very strange to think of the Sun/Moon/stars etc all going from right to left in the sky (instead of left to right) - not only are you upside down; you're in reverse as well! I desperately want to see the southern sky one day; the Magellanic clouds and different constellations etc; would be a bit like being stood on another planet...
sOnIc
Senior Member
These astronomical events are a real challenge, not just technically but also because there is so much luck involved .. I was all set up and waiting but there was a band of cloud hanging on the horizon; just enough to screw up the main objective of my mission. About 15 mins after moon rise we saw it come out from behind the cloud looking very large indeed, if that cloud hadn't been there I'd have a cracker of an image with the Moon right beside the lighthouse, but it wasn't to be .. The opportunity is with us for the next few days over the full moon period; but given that the Moon rises about 10 degrees more north each day means the alignment of foreground and Moon will be entirely different; requiring a totally different location.
brads
Senior Member
The images give you a complete realisation of just how big that moon is when compared to the lighthouse. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like when juxtaposed with it. Overwhelming, I'll bet. As for Australia, c'mon down! Cheers, Brad
sOnIc
Senior Member
Today the Moon rose 30 minutes later than yesterday, thus 30 mins darker conditions, but the distant cloud bank on the horizon was still there, it took about 8/10mins for the Moon to clear the cloud before it became visible. What I really wanted was a Yacht over the lunar disc or something but never mind, it was a lovely evening and a nice sight again:
