I just queried Flickr for pictures of the moon and got 1,110,995 hits. OK--some of those were probably pictures of mooning, but the vast majority were of the Earth's favorite satellite. It's a rite of passage for new DSLR owners to go out at night, point their cameras skyward, and get a (usually not great) photo. Here are some ideas on how to do a better job, so you can impress friends and neighbors.
Obviously, it helps to know when the Moon will rise and its current phase. First, the moon is not in sync with our night. It's often out while the sun is, and below the horizon when you'd expect it to be visible. Some days have no moonrise, others no moonset. You can get a year's worth of moon times from the US Naval Observatory. Unlike sunrise and sunset charts, you'll need a new one every year. You can find the moon's phase in picture form here.
Our minds are good at getting our eyes to concentrate on a small object like the moon in the sky. Your camera--not so much. You'll want to use as long a zoom lens as you can. As your lens gets bigger, so will the moon, and so will shake! Long lenses need fast shutter speeds. A tripod is helpful but not mandatory. The rule of thumb is "1/focal length" for hand held photography. If you've got a 300mm lens, you'll have to shoot at 1/300 second or faster. If your lens has a 1.6 crop factor, you'll want something closer to 1/500 second with that same 300mm lens!
Luckily, the moon is a point of bright light. I went back to Flickr and found a very nice handheld lunar image taken with a 400mm lens at 1/400 second, ISO 100, f/7.1. By the way, a quarter moon only has around 10% of the light of a full moon, and you'll have to open up your lens or slow down your shutter speed to accommodate the change.
Over at Digital Photography School, they recommend timing your moon shots so you get help from the sun:
The ideal time to capture the moon near the horizon is when you can still see the horizon. If you were to capture the moon long after the sun has set, say 3 hours, the foreground subject matter will not be illuminated and may not show well in the image. Or if the sky is already black, the moon will show as just a white blur if you attempt to brighten foreground objects.
Like so many other subjects the moon looks best when framed with other objects. It could be a nice cloud formation, trees, or even a city's skyline. Hey, it's the digital age--shoot away and experiment. Bracket your shots using a variety of shutter, aperture, and ISO settings. You'll throw most away, but that won't matter if there's one keeper.
(Photo: Noche de luna llena - Full moon night by *L*U*Z*A* used under a Creative Commons license)
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October 9, 2008 9:38 AM
Taking pictures of moon is very interesting. The ideas are really smart and informative.