Last night there was a bright full moon in Cleveland with really cool illuminated clouds around it. I have taken moon shots before but I decided to try out the Looney 11 technique that I read about recently. I was all excited and went outside with my Nikon D3100. On manual settings, I used Iso 200, 1/200 shutter at f/11. I shot the picture zooming in with my 18-300 Tamron lens, probably picked a focal length of 200 mm. Nothing, couldn't even see the moon in the picture. I ended up with some very nice shots but had to use settings of ISO 1600, shutter 1/10th, f/6.5. That is about 9.5 f stops difference!!!!! What is going on with the Looney 11 rule here???
Help with the Looney 11 rule
- Thread starter Revet
- Start date
What time last night? Was it red? 
I think I may be one day off, but there was the total lunar eclipse, I guess around 1 to 2 AM your time. Sort of a special event. An earlier time would have been a regular full moon, but probably low in the sky.
The moons surface only reflects maybe 12%, which is darker than the average scene on Earth. Hence, Loony 11 instead of Sunny 16. But the moon varies, being frontally lighted at full moon, side lighted at quarter moon, and rear lighted at a dark moon. And eclipse is yet something else.
Here is a fair guide for a routine moon (no eclipse):
low light - How do I set the proper exposure for nighttime moon photos? - Photography Stack Exchange
And another:
Moon Photography - A How To Guide
Altitude is another factor, brightest overhead, dimmer on the horizon.
9 stops does seem like a lot. Here is another:
Photographing the Moon
I think I may be one day off, but there was the total lunar eclipse, I guess around 1 to 2 AM your time. Sort of a special event. An earlier time would have been a regular full moon, but probably low in the sky.
The moons surface only reflects maybe 12%, which is darker than the average scene on Earth. Hence, Loony 11 instead of Sunny 16. But the moon varies, being frontally lighted at full moon, side lighted at quarter moon, and rear lighted at a dark moon. And eclipse is yet something else.
Here is a fair guide for a routine moon (no eclipse):
low light - How do I set the proper exposure for nighttime moon photos? - Photography Stack Exchange
And another:
Moon Photography - A How To Guide
Altitude is another factor, brightest overhead, dimmer on the horizon.
9 stops does seem like a lot. Here is another:
Photographing the Moon
Why not?
What's focal length got to do with exposure? 4mm, 40mm, 400mm, 4000mm..... Exposure is exposure. Focal length isn't one of the variable in the Exposure Triangle.
Well, I was under the impression that the Sunny 16 rule (f/16, 1/100th sec, ISO 100) was for a given focal length lens. If you zoom any lens out then the exposure values change, i.e. need more light than at shorter focal lengths. I am not saying it wouldn't work but it would underexpose at 200mm versus a shorter focal length.
I think . . . . will admit I am a little confused as to how this works.
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No, the exposure does not depend on focal length (nor on camera location). If you zoom out, the exposure does not change. Maybe if the scene contents change, it could meter different, but not just due to focal length. Try zooming on something like a blank wall (so the scene contents don't vary). The whole idea of fstop number is that f/4 is f/4 exposure for any focal length.
Hmmmm, then I guess that makes me question why a zoom lens doesn't have the ability to use its widest aperture then? If its exposure is the same at any focal length then why wouldn't a 70-300mm zoom also use its widest aperture at 300mm?
Or am I just too confused to see the workings here and a zoom lens works the same (as to exposure) at any aperture ABOVE its minimum for any given zoom length?
It doesn't work, hence your confusion. :apathy:
You're thinking of variable aperture zooms, like the 18-55 or 55-200 and such. The reason their apertures reduce at longer focal lengths is strictly a mechanical issue. The aperture blades physically move away from the camera, hence the opening becomes visually smaller as seen from the camera.
Not all zooms are variable aperture. There's lots of them, like the Nikon Trinity lenses, that do not change their apertures during zooming.
Many zooms do have the same maximum aperture at any zoom focal length.
More likely the FX lenses.
14-24mm f/2.8
24-70mm f/2.8
70-200mm f/2.8
24-120mm f/4
etc.
And the inexpensive ones may not, more typically the DX lenses.
fstop = focal length / aperture diameter.
So on the first class of zooms, the aperture diameter does become larger at longer zooms to maintain the same fstop calculation.
But on some inexpensive zooms, it is harder design work than the price warrants (larger diameter lenses), so then a longer zoom may be stopped down instead - at longer zooms (instead of constant maximum aperture).
But at a fstop any focal length can do, the exposure is the same.
And of course, some DX lens do maintain constant maximum aperture ... 12-24mm f/4 DX for example.
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Great resources for shooting the moon!! (Isn't that a card game??). I think I figured out what was going on. The moon was up about 1 1/2 hours so it was still pretty low in the sky. In addition, I was trying to illuminate the tree branches I was shooting through. If my goal was to look at the detail on the moon surface with a lets say a 400 mm zoom, the looney 11 rule would probably be more appropriate. In the shots I was taking, the moon itself was way overexposed to achieve the effect I was after. Unfortunately I am the type of person (left brained) when I learn a rule (like in math) I want it to work 100% of the time. How often does that happen in life!!!! Thanks all for your help!
Most (except expensive fixed aperture) zoom lens have a variable maximum aperture because of their internal construction. The larger the focal length the smaller the max aperture.
There is a good tutorial here that provides more detail.
Understanding Camera Lenses
Maybe set the exposure for the moon, but get close to the tree and use low power flash to light the branches. Might be able to get both.
Right on.
