Yea I had the ISO up so high because I was shooting without a tripod. Will try again with a tripod at some point. Thanks for the VR tip. Always forget about that, though I don't know that the Tamron lens had VR.
Post your Moon Shots
- Thread starter Browncoat
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Yea I had the ISO up so high because I was shooting without a tripod. Will try again with a tripod at some point. Thanks for the VR tip. Always forget about that, though I don't know that the Tamron lens had VR.
This is my 1st attempt at taking a picture of the moon, using the Nikon 3200 DSLR, tamron 70-300mm lens, setup on a tripod.
it was about 9pm and not completely dark.
The 1st couple of shots were a bit bright, so I adjusted the iso. and a couple of adjustments in lightroom.
it was about 9pm and not completely dark.
The 1st couple of shots were a bit bright, so I adjusted the iso. and a couple of adjustments in lightroom.
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Exposure for the moon is the same as the "Bright Sunny Day" rule which states that on a bright sunny day, no clouds, that your proper exposure will be 1/ASA @ f/16. So if you are shooting ISO 100 you would expose at 1/100 (1/125 for the days when you did not have the ability to adjust shutter speed in 1/3 stop increments) @ f/16. Now if you are shooting the moon with a long focal length, you would be much better off going more with something like 1/500 @ f/8 to minimize any unsharpness due to camera movement, even on a tripod. I shot this image back on the day of the "super moon" with my D700, 600mm f/4 AIS Nikkor and TC-300 teleconverter. I used 1/500 sec if my memory serves me correctly, even on my heavy Bogen studio tripod because at an effective 1200mm focal length that is 24x magnification. As with all ED lenses, you can focus past infinity, so I focused on the focusing screen rather than just arbitrarily setting the focusing ring at infinity.
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Exposure for the moon is the same as the "Bright Sunny Day" rule which states that on a bright sunny day, no clouds, that your proper exposure will be 1/ASA @ f/16. So if you are shooting ISO 100 you would expose at 1/100 @ f/16. Now if you are shooting the moon with a long focal length, you would be much better off going more with something like 1/500 @ f/8 to minimize any unsharpness due to camera movement, even on a tripod. I shot this image back on the day of the "super moon" with my D700, 600mm f/4 AIS Nikkor and TC-300 teleconverter. I used 1/500 sec if my memory serves me correctly, even on my heavy Bogen studio tripod because at an effective 1200mm focal length that is 24x magnification. As with all ED lenses, you can focus past infinity, so I focused on the focusing screen rather than just arbitrarily setting the focusing ring at infinity.
Interesting. I had never heard the 1/ASA @f/16 rule.
Does that rule have a name other than "Bright Sunny Day" so I can do some good ol' fashioned Googlin'?
Glad it's not the lens and is the more logical issue - too much time with the shutter open.
Interesting. I had never heard the 1/ASA @f/16 rule.
Does that rule have a name other than "Bright Sunny Day" so I can do some good ol' fashioned Googlin'?
Glad it's not the lens and is the more logical issue - too much time with the shutter open.
Here they call it the "Sunny 16" rule but I always learned it as the BSD rule
Interesting. I had never heard the 1/ASA @f/16 rule.
Does that rule have a name other than "Bright Sunny Day" so I can do some good ol' fashioned Googlin'?
Glad it's not the lens and is the more logical issue - too much time with the shutter open.
Nevermind... found it.
For everyone else's reference:
The Sunny 16 Rule - Digital Photo Secrets
It works during the day with the moon out too! This was taken 30 years ago with my 1953 vintage Rolleiflex 2.8E and Panatomic-X film. No light meter in the camera and like a dope I left my hand held 1º spot meter in the car.
I never realized just how fast the moon moves in the sky when you're trying to shoot with a long lens. Mounted on a tripod I take some time to center the moon and seconds later it's almost out of my viewfinder. Even on a tripod if your shutter speed is too slow then you'll get "blur". I would follow STM's advice with the Bright Sunny Day thing. I typically just spot meter directly on the bright side of the moon and figure my settings from there. I try to get at least 1/500 shutter or faster. I'm not so concerned about aperture since the object is so far away. I typically go with a wider aperture and adjust ISO so my shutter can be quick. I've had decent results with AF. I've tried many times to manually focus with and without live view and that's a challenge sometimes too. From the viewfinder I'm never quite 100% sure that it's dead on focused and using live view (zoomed in 3 or 4 times) the object is so fast and shaky that it's tough to get it. This was done tonight. Unfortunately the skies weren't completely clear. I had small clouds passing through the frame.
With my 150-600mm Tamron
BM7_7219 by BMalinis, on Flickr
Here is with my 150-600 Tamron and a Kenko's 1.4 TC. Not as sharp as the first pic.
BM7_7251 by BMalinis, on Flickr
Even on a tripod if your shutter speed is too slow then you'll get "blur". I would follow STM's advice with the Bright Sunny Day thing. I typically just spot meter directly on the bright side of the moon and figure my settings from there. I try to get at least 1/500 shutter or faster. I'm not so concerned about aperture since the object is so far away. I typically go with a wider aperture and adjust ISO so my shutter can be quick. I've had decent results with AF. I've tried many times to manually focus with and without live view and that's a challenge sometimes too. From the viewfinder I'm never quite 100% sure that it's dead on focused and using live view (zoomed in 3 or 4 times) the object is so fast and shaky that it's tough to get it. This was done tonight. Unfortunately the skies weren't completely clear. I had small clouds passing through the frame. With my 150-600mm Tamron
BM7_7219 by BMalinis, on FlickrHere is with my 150-600 Tamron and a Kenko's 1.4 TC. Not as sharp as the first pic.
BM7_7251 by BMalinis, on Flickr
A moon that is less than full has the advantage of light hitting it at an angle so it produces shadows and highlights, making it appear even sharper
I never realized just how fast the moon moves in the sky when you're trying to shoot with a long lens. Mounted on a tripod I take some time to center the moon and seconds later it's almost out of my viewfinder.
With my 150-600mm Tamron
I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick convert to gray, crop, and resize of the first -- ignoring the crumbly bits, a very nice picture; I wish I could do as well.
I tried cranking mine up like Pretzel. But my sharpness just wasn't there to begin with. Mine looks more like a watercolor painting. lol
BM7_7234-Edit by BMalinis, on Flickr
BM7_7234-Edit by BMalinis, on FlickrDon't be so self critical its not bad at all, better than many on here, especially mine!
You have gone slightly overboard on the sharpening just need to back it off a touch.
Cant see any exif data so not sure what lens you used I guess it was the Tamron at 600mm ?
You have gone slightly overboard on the sharpening just need to back it off a touch.
Cant see any exif data so not sure what lens you used I guess it was the Tamron at 600mm ?
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nikonpup
Senior Member
i would like to see the "before processing" if possible. I tied a shot last night - not sure if it is me and processing or my lens that sucks.
Thanks... it's my Tamron 150-600mm. My original of this pic is another post up (with the bluish cast). I was trying to get a cranked up look like what Pretzel did with his. His was extremely sharp to begin with so his enhancements really look great. I overdid it on mine because I was trying to bring out those white striations, otherwise I'm happy with my first one. It was just an exercise to see if I could bring out that look. Lots of great moon pics on this site for sure.
I'd be happy to show a "before" shot when I get home!
Remember, it's not all just sharpening. There's a lot to be said for nailing the right exposure and focus to start (even today, I still take 3 or 4 shots in a row to ensure I've got one that hits), and I don't fire a shot until I've given the VR about 5-10 seconds to settle. Then it's a "little" sharpening combined with messing around with shadows, contrast, etc. If ya rely on sharpening alone, and try to overcrank it, it introduces a bit of noise into the pic... then trying to reduce the noise too much often creates that "oil painting" look, which I've done a lot in the past. Basically, I just toy around with a specific goal of what I want in mind, and am willing to start all over if it goes too far. Enough of that, and eventually you settle in with what you know works, and the workflow gets faster.
This particular shot involved a touch of Perfect Effects 8 HDR as well (not the surreal, as it produces some nasty halos, at times, especially with the stark contrast) just to top it off.
I'm betting when you see the before pic, you'll be a little surprised.
**edit: comments about letting the VR settle are because I shoot the moon handheld. There should be no VR when shooting with a tripod, and I recommend a remote w/ the tripod to avoid the "shutter-shakes".