(Technically, the photo was taken with f/6.3 and ISO-80, but the pull-downs don't have it.)

I'm re-cycling the title of a thread from a networking board I once saw many moons ago [pun intended ] -- perhaps linked-to from this board -- that contained the most exceptional and colorful photo of the moon I ever saw; a composite of many photos with amazing colors from the elements and minerals on the surface of the Moon. It was at that time that I learned the moon did indeed have color ... many of them! But instead of a composite, I am relying on the exceptional K-5 and Sigma 300/2.8 + 2X TC for just one snap here. The photo at various sizes is published here: http://m8ofoto.smugmug.com/SkyandSpace/Luna/

The 'Vivid' slider in Lightroom really makes punchy colors, which is not what I wanted here. So I used heavy saturation, and color curve adjustment/boosting in blue and yellow, but I kept the 'punch' from the Vivid slider low. I was going for 'hyper-real' but not 'un-real'.

Hope you like it as much as I liked taking and processing the photo for this end. Ironcially, I didn't have my tripod @ my home on LI. So I had to figure something out as a stable platform. I ended-up using the banister of the stairs going-up to my deck, and had to press-down and hold the camera and lens in place , a 12-ish pound unit. Tho that mandated I had to wait until after midnight when the moon was at its highest before it lined-up with the banister <grin>.

K-5 + Sigma 300mm f/2.8 EX DG + matching 2X TC @ f/6.3 (sweet spot) , 1/250s , ISO-80 , 100% Crop then resized from 1233px to 960px

[Chex]

Wow, looks great! wish I had that kinda range.. ahh well maybe by the end of the year...

[KxBlaze]

Very nice, one of the best moon shots I have seen.

[eaglem]

Yep a helluva lot better than mine.

[Tommot1965]

best moon shot yet..thanks for sharing..now I know I need a 300mm plus lens...

[magrose]

Almost looks like a big floating crystal. Nice.

[imtheguy]

I think the astronomers would refer to that as "false color" since it makes it easier to distinguish features but the the true color is essentially just reflected direct sunlight. At least this is how it was explained to me.

It does make for a cool change of pace regardless of the accuracy.

[creampuff]

This is a terrific shot. High clarity and detail.

[mickeyobe]

This was shot with a Pentax K100d camera set at aperture preferred with 10 second shutter delay to minimize vibration. Manual focus. Shake reduction was off as camera was mounted on a tripod. Shutter speed was 1/1500 second with camera set at 800 ISO/ASA.

The lens was a 600mm f8 catadioptric (mirror) with Canon FD mount.

An adapter was used to fit the Pentax KA lens mount. Adapters tend to degrade the image somewhat as a lens is, of necessity, built into it.
Because I shot early in the evening when the moon was low in the sky I think the image was softened by having to penetrate additional atmosphere at the low altitude but the subject kept getting smaller as time passed.

A plastic shopping bag with four cans of soup (two tomato & two mushroom) was hung from the lens for increased stability.

I am not thrilled with the picture but it was the best of the lot.



As for the colour of the moon. "What color is the Moon, really"
After careful study of my image I am convinced it is not composed of green cheese.
It appears to be made of a round Gouda that fell off the delivery truck and rolled and bounced along a gravel road.

m80,
Your picture is stunning.

Mickey

[m8o]

I forgot to mention. This is a 100% crop too! So ya, I certainly caught the right focus on this one. I have a dozen softer others from the same session to support that. Thanx for the kind words everyone.

Special call-out to Mickey for taking the time. I recommend you decrease the shutter speed so that you can lower the ISO. With the resolution of your camera, and the assumption "my maths" were correct at the time a few years ago, you can get away with shutter speeds down to 1/4 second (when on a stable platform as you described) before blur from the motion of the moon across the sky exceeds 1 pixel and begins to soften the image from that. With that said, I recommend using higher at 1/100 - 1/250 sec rather than 1/1500 sec.

[Chex]

A plastic shopping bag with four cans of soup (two tomato & two mushroom) was hung from the lens for increased stability.

That was the problem.. next time simply remove those 2 cans of mushrooms and add one can of chunky soup.

next time try a longer shutter speeds and lower your ISO to clear up some noise, if your worried about camera wobble, shorten the legs on the tripod and keep them fairly wide. If necessary bring a windbreak (even a large chunk of cardboard). I am considering grabbing a 500mm vivitar mirror lens with 2x TC as they are very cheap.. maybe I'll try some moon shots then.

[mickeyobe]

m80 and Chex,

Thank you for your suggestions. They make good sense. I shall certainly use them. If only I had known.

Uh oh. 18 years you say? I am 78.

I'll try it on the next full moon if the sky is clear.

Mickey

[Chex]

I find even at 1 second the shake reduction should take care of things as slow moving as the moon.

[mummarazzi]

Wow! Fantastic shot

[m8o]

I find even at 1 second the sh ake reduction should take care of things as slow moving as the moon.

While it's true the moon moves about 1 diameter in one hour, and assuming you only want to allow a max of say 1/3 pixel movement of any 1 pixel of detail of the moon's projected image as it moves across the sensor [so that the majority of the 1-pixel of detail projected onto the sensor remains in the same pixel during the shutter's duration] you can get away with a 1 second shutter.

But it sounds like you are implying the camera 'locks' on to a subject with its SR and 'tracks' it. I must be mis-interpreting what you mean, as I imagine you know SR doesn't know anything about the moon's motion, just one's hand's motion. So I'm going with I'm not reading what you meant correctly.

Also worth mentioning btw that on a tripod SR must be off else SR increases blur as it can't cope w/the high frequency of the motion when on a tripod vs the low frequency it's designed for when in the hand (the newer cameras even automatically turn-off SR if you use lock-up or shutter delay).