starry nights...need help

hello i was trying to take moon shots last night and tried to get shots with stars in them but the intensity of the moon washed them out? how can i get stars and moon in same shots? using my d3100 and 55-300mm vr or 18-55mm vr lenses

Ron is right. If you expose for the moon you won't get any stars. If you expose for stars, the moon will be a big bright blob. I suggest getting a few good moon shots to choose from. Then get some good star shots and merge them in something like Photoshop

also is there a way to increase clarity without making it look fake?

does view nx2 have a merge function?

patrick in memphis said:

does view nx2 have a merge function?

Click to expand...

Just looked, couldn't find merge.

after many shots of the moon last night im trying to figure out why i cant get clear pics of the full moon .is it that i need the shadows to bring up the details??i ran through different f stops and shutter speeds along with a cpl lens.but just cant seem to get the clarity i had 3 days ago it was 70 deg several days ago now its 45 deg could that be the difference????

this was my best pic tonight trying to take a pic of jupiter with my 300mm lens at full range it created image blur so i had to back it out...is this the best i should expect without a telescope? what could i do to improve upon the image quality if anything?thanks for your time and expertise

lol it was the best of the bunch .....normal finger for shutter release ...roughly 100$ ambico tripod mounted on ground but due to angle in sky i had to hold tripod to keep from flipping (i retracted both back legs to be able to shoot at 11oclock position over head and using view nx2 software not to mention Jupiter is roughly 400 million miles away and the further i zoom the more critical it is for camera stability...i also reduced shutter duration to help with blur. i think stars are easier to shoot since there is no definition to speak of i'm just amazed i can see planets......wow

If you can't get a shutter release or remote, you can eliminate some shake by setting the self-timer. Sure it's a 10 second delay but it gets you hand off the camera.
With a 300mm lens at full extension, you'll start picking up star trails after only 2 seconds of exposure. I've been reading about some Freeware called Deep Sky Stacker. DeepSkyStacker - Free I haven't tried it yet, but you're supposed to be able to take about 100 short exposures and the software stacks them one on top of another giving you a lot more visible stars.

Hi All,
I used to have a telescope a few years back, but sold it due to it not having the chances to use it (Got married! ).... But, when I did have it, I had a filter set and one of those filters was for observing the moon specifically.... It was quite a dark grey / green colour and just gave enough contrast to see the details on the surface of the moon.
It could be worth contacting a telescope supplier, and asking what specs the moon filters are and seeing if there is a suitable equivilent one for cameras.
Unless you use a low power telescope, observing the moon is best done with a camera + tripod or Bino's, as telescopes are like lenses and tripods.... Cheap just wobbles and won't give clear images.