Well it was a clear crisp night tonight and from my deck the moon was full. I am trying to get better at this , a full bright moon proved rather difficult. I was amazed at low ISO and high shutter speed. I think the focus could have been better ? Let me know what I can do to improve thanks for looking

Sigma 50-500 - 500mm - f7.1 - 1/400 ISO 100 - spot metering

[thomasjmpark]

I think that was a really good effort, its a little bit out of focus but i guess its quite far away! something id like to try sometime

[igowerf]

I've found that full moons actually aren't very photogenic. Because there's so much light shining right onto the moon, a lot of the features are washed out and there aren't very many shadows to create contrast. You end up getting a big white/gray/yellow disc with dark splotches. Wait a few days and the hills and crater rims will start casting cool looking shadows.

I took this photo a few months ago using an FA* 400mm and a 1.4x-S teleconverter:
K100D + Pentax 1.4x-S + FA* 400mm

[daacon]

I think that was a really good effort, its a little bit out of focus but i guess its quite far away! something id like to try sometime

Thanks thomasjmpark I think with more pratice I could have nailed the focus. Next time I may try a long exposure see if I can get some stars as well.

I've found that full moons actually aren't very photogenic. Because there's so much light shining right onto the moon, a lot of the features are washed out and there aren't very many shadows to create contrast. You end up getting a big white/gray/yellow disc with dark splotches. Wait a few days and the hills and crater rims will start casting cool looking shadows.

I took this photo a few months ago using an FA* 400mm and a 1.4x-S teleconverter:
K100D + Pentax 1.4x-S + FA* 400mm

Nice shot igowerf. This was the first time I tried a full moon and I agree. Some google reseach confirms full moons are not the best to shoot. I would have not guessed that. What I really wanted last night was there was a huge cloud moving in front of the moon that was transparent. The lighting on the cloud was neat. I could not get the camera set up in time (Bigma / tripod) as the cloud blew by in about 2 minutes.

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Last edited by daacon; 11-23-2007 at 08:51 AM.

[NaClH2O]

Nice try Dave, and yes I think it's a bit OOF too. Either that or some tiny movement in the camera. Did you use mirror lock up? It's amazing how just the tiny vibration of mirror slap can mess up a shot. The other thing to try is focus bracketing. I don't own the bigma so I don't know if it focuses beyond infinity (some lenses do) but if it does try racking it out all the way and then coming back to get the shot in focus, and then do it the other way by coming from the close side.

NaCl(thanks for posting and don't give up!)H2O

[daacon]

Nice try Dave, and yes I think it's a bit OOF too. Either that or some tiny movement in the camera. Did you use mirror lock up? It's amazing how just the tiny vibration of mirror slap can mess up a shot. The other thing to try is focus bracketing. I don't own the bigma so I don't know if it focuses beyond infinity (some lenses do) but if it does try racking it out all the way and then coming back to get the shot in focus, and then do it the other way by coming from the close side.

NaCl(thanks for posting and don't give up!)H2O

Thanks Salty .You have a point , while I used a 2 sec timer it could have moved the camera enough to move the focal point. I do have the wireless remote so will give that a go - I did not try mirror lock up ..umm if it is clear tonight will give that a go. Focus Braketing ?? Please explain

[scott-devon]

Nice shot Daacon, and some good tips for trying to improve too. I saw that moon last night and was tempted to try my hand at it but... got lazy.

[NaClH2O]

*snip* Focus Braketing ?? Please explain

I thought I had, It is a manual focus technique where you come into focus from close, take the shot and then rack your lens all the way out and come into focus from the other side and take that shot. And yes I do understand that you are already at infinity, but there are some lenses (my SMC K 300 F4 is one) that focus beyond infinity. If the bigma is one like that go all the way out to the end and then come back into focus and take the shot and do the same from 'near side' focus.

NaCl(sometimes...not all...it helps in hard to focus situations)H2O

[daacon]

I thought I had, It is a manual focus technique where you come into focus from close, take the shot and then rack your lens all the way out and come into focus from the other side and take that shot. And yes I do understand that you are already at infinity, but there are some lenses (my SMC K 300 F4 is one) that focus beyond infinity. If the bigma is one like that go all the way out to the end and then come back into focus and take the shot and do the same from 'near side' focus.

NaCl(sometimes...not all...it helps in hard to focus situations)H2O

I think you did - twice now - I will only ask a few more times - Pretty cloudy tonight so I will wait for tomorrow perhaps.