I have been a photographer for about 8 or 9 years now. I am a self-proclaimed amateur, but sometimes I get some really good shots. I missed out on the film era. Well, I missed out as a serious shooter that is. I have had cameras for years, but before I got into digital, I had only used little 35mm point and shoot cameras. Sure, I remember the 110 and the Polaroid, but I never shot seriously back then.
Over the last few years, I have gotten pretty serious in my shooting. I even started a Meetup group in the area to help others with their passion for photography. I wont claim to be a great photographer, but I think I do OK. But sometimes, I run into areas that I am just not good at. Tonight was a good example.
The weather had been wonky all day. It was very windy, rainy and gloomy. Around 5pm it even spit some icy precipitation. I assume it was sleet. After the storm, the sun came out and the weather got a little better. It was still only in the 40s, but it wasn’t as windy as it had been earlier in the day. The sun was setting and it was a beauty, so I decided to go out on the back deck and grab a few pics. They came out pretty well, even though there’s only a small area between the trees to see the sunset.
I came back in and got right to editing the pics I had taken. I even posted one on Facebook. A friend commented on one of the pics and asked if I had seen the moon. No, I hadn’t. I went to the window and looked out, only to see a beautiful moon. I grabbed the camera and the tripod and back outside I went. This is where the trouble started.
I got the camera set up on the tripod with the 70-300mm lens on it and set it on manual focus. I set my f-stops and shutter speed and looks through the viewfinder. A little blurry. A little adjustment on the lens and it was nice and clear. I took a bunch of shots and came inside to process. Crap. They are all blurry. What the…
It wasn’t crisp. It was not sharp. What did I do? So, I looked up some info on the net and bounced it off some people I really respect over at Movie Photo Forums. I took the advice and tried it again. The results this time were a little better but still not quite what I had hoped for. Here is what I got. Please keep in mind that this is a 100% crop.
Here is the same shot with a little bit of Photoshop tweaking.
I like this one a little better, but it still isn’t good enough. I guess I need a much more powerful lens and a lot more practice. Do you have tips for shooting the moon? Settings you would like to share? I would love to know what works for you.
See ya soon!
The World Through My Lens 
hey michael…i think the shots of the moon you took are AMAZING!!!!! i could only hope to get a few shots like that….i will at some point…im still stuck on point and shoot cameras and im okay when it comes to my photography as well but i can get good shots with my little point and shoot…as well as those folks that use the “fancier” cameras…i just cant get into the fancier cameras…they are too bulky and cumbersome for me…lol
keep up the good work!! i like your photos
Thanks Tracie! I have seen some pretty amazing shots from point and shoot cameras, so don’t discount your abilities. Sure, the SLRs will have longer lenses and have more options, but if you understand how the camera works and can change some settings here and there, you will be able to get some pretty decent shots. Just keep trying.
Mike:
I think the pics are great. I can see the man in the moon!
Do you teach about photo cropping etc in your meet up group? If so, what software/applications do you teach? I’m not much w/a cameras but I would like to learn more about the software.
Thanks Kristine. We do teach Photoshop in the group. It is a very expensive program, so we try to help people that have spent that much money get a good value from what they have purchased. There are other editing programs that work, but Photoshop is ‘the’ program to use. I can show you how to use it if you would like.
I have Adobe Photoshop 6.0 on this computer is that the same thing? If so I think I’d like to join your meet up group; please let me know the wed addy so I can join.
It is an older version (about 5 or 6 editions ago) but it will do most of what you would need. I can teach you how to use it.
R U Kidding me? Computers only a year old. Figures. Yes please; I’d really appreciate your help. Thanx ya’ kindly
Those shots are amazing. Mat also saw the sunset beyond the ick of the clouds yesterday and went out and took some shots around 6:30pm. I could tell they would be pretty nice, as the colors from the west were really amazing. I know he’s excited for the colors coming up in our back yard. Granted we love green, but this year, in the new house, there are more colors than ever!
Thanks Kari. I was totally shocked by the sunset. After that storm, it totally cleared right up. We are also seeing great greens here. The plants I planted a little over a week ago are showing signs of life too! I can’t wait!
Hey M, could you get any better shot than the last one posted? I think not. We are our own worst critics, but in other people’s eyes the work is superb. That is the case here. WoW. Simply incredible.
Yes. The shot could be much sharper and could be white like the moon. My settings were off and my lens isn’t long enough to grab a better shot. If I had caught the moon around sunset, that would have been the perfect time to shoot it, as it is closer to the Earth and appears much larger. Thanks for the compliment!
What? Those moon shots are unbelievable to my eye! As I was reading, it was literally like the moon was getting bigger and smaller…The photos were ALIVE!!!
Love the new website!
Thanks Pam!
With the moon you’re essentially shooting a lit lightbulb since it throws off so much light. So the settings I’ve used with success are something like this: ISO 200-400, F16-22 (Aperture Priority) and then let the camera pick the exposure time. Also, many times I can get the camera to successfully focus on auto so I let it do that. Other than that, since I’m using a tripod I make sure to turn my VR off (“IS” for cannon folks) since the gyros can actually induce a vibration when on a tripod.
What were your settings? I couldn’t extract EXIF from any of those pics.
Hey Dan! Thanks for the tips. I was shooting at ISO200 f/10 1/400 -1EV or in the close neighborhood. The camera was on full manual mode. I was also using manual focus.