[justtakingpics]

I am trying to take pictures of the moon over the ocean and I can get the ocean with reflected moonlight ok but the moon is blown out.

I am using older manual lens, Sears 28mm and 50mm on several different apertures on a K-x, various ISO settings. Thanks for any help in getting both in focus and not blown out.

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[Marc Sabatella]

Well, yes, the moon is many many times brighter than anything it is illuminating. That's just life with photography. You can either expose to get detail in the moon, with everything else very dark, or else you can expose to get detail everywhere else, with the moon blown out. Those are always the only two choices. if you want to create a picture with detail both in the moon and ground, you can either take two pictures with different exposures and combine them, or expose for the moon and then lighten the rest of the picture in your favorite PP program.

[rhodopsin]

Another option is to use a graduated ND filter to reduce brightness dynamic range.

[Ben_Edict]

Another option is to use a graduated ND filter to reduce brightness dynamic range.

By far not sufficient to bring the Moon down to the level of the surroundings!


If one wants to have a correctly exposed Moon over an Moonshine-illuminated landscape, there is no easier way, than do either a double exposure, by holding back the upper half during the first exposure or to copy-in the Moon in post-processing.

Ben

[Ben_Edict]

I am trying to take pictures of the moon over the ocean and I can get the ocean with reflected moonlight ok but the moon is blown out.

I am using older manual lens, Sears 28mm and 50mm on several different apertures on a K-x, various ISO settings. Thanks for any help in getting both in focus and not blown out.

Firstly, you should be aware of the very small angular size of the Moon. With a 50mm lens, it will be only 0.5mm in diameter on your sensor. To recognize anything meaningful on the Moon, you should at least use a 200mm lens, which would render the Moon image on your sensor 2mm across.

Then, the Moon is many f-stops brighter, than the Moonlit landscape. The only ways to get a correctly exposed Moon over the landscape is to to either copy it in, in post-processing or by making a double exposure at the time of the shot. You would hold back (black cardboard) the upper half of the image during the many-seconds landscape expsoure and then take a second expsoure on the same frame with the required exposure time for the Moon, which is usually (depending on f-stop) below 1/125s.

Personally I find a somewhat overexposed Moon much more natural, than a correctly exposed one. The Moon's surface is very dark (have a look here: PentaxForums.com - Ben_Edict's Album: Ben's linked images - Picture) and that simply does not look nice over a Moonlit landscape. A big yellowish orb looks much better.

Ben

[rhodopsin]

By far not sufficient to bring the Moon down to the level of the surroundings!


If one wants to have a correctly exposed Moon over an Moonshine-illuminated landscape, there is no easier way, than do either a double exposure, by holding back the upper half during the first exposure or to copy-in the Moon in post-processing.

Ben

OP is photographing Moon and reflections from an Ocean, not a Landscape where dynamic range would be far greater.

3-stop grad ND are available.

[egordon99]

I am trying to take pictures of the moon over the ocean and I can get the ocean with reflected moonlight ok but the moon is blown out.

I am using older manual lens, Sears 28mm and 50mm on several different apertures on a K-x, various ISO settings. Thanks for any help in getting both in focus and not blown out.

Just like anything else, if you use a narrower aperture/faster shutter speed/lower ISO, the picture will come out darker.

So if whatever you're photographing is too bright, you're letting TOO much light hit the sensor. When you were experimenting, you should have noticed the moon get darker if you used a narrower aperture/faster shutter speed/lower ISO.

Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is a good book that explains some of the basics of photography, including how ISO, shutter speed, and f/stop all work together.

[SpecialK]

The moon is being illuminated by daylight. You are exposing it as a night shot.

[Ben_Edict]

The moon is being illuminated by daylight. You are exposing it as a night shot.

The problem here is: it is a night shot. If the TO wants to get the seascape nicely Moonlit – with the foreground silhouettes – and the Moon properly exposed at the same time. this is going to be difficult in a single exposure.

Ben

[egordon99]

I've stumbled across some GREAT moon scenes right at dawn while walking the dog on our street. The FULL Moonn was still quite visible in the sky, just above some houses. AND the newly risen sun was illuminating the houses perfectly. I almost left my dog there to run back to my house and grab my camera

[adwb]

I am trying to take pictures of the moon over the ocean and I can get the ocean with reflected moonlight ok but the moon is blown out.

I am using older manual lens, Sears 28mm and 50mm on several different apertures on a K-x, various ISO settings. Thanks for any help in getting both in focus and not blown out.

As suggested just a quick combination of your shot and a not very detailed moon.
Alistair

[justtakingpics]

As suggested just a quick combination of your shot and a not very detailed moon.
Alistair

How did you do it?

[adwb]

How did you do it?

Photoshop,
load your image plus load 1 x moon approx the right colour
open your image , make duplicate layer,
open moon image ,draw round moon using lasso tool then select copy.
reopen your image and paste moon in .
select image resize [percentage] and alter till it fits, a little bit of dodge and burn to get the edge colours right ,
blend layers
job done.
i just did it quickly to show you what others had mentioned.
do your self a favour and build a liberary of moon shots at different phases so you can fix your night shots.
I really liked your basic image the reflection and the grass silhouette are very nice.
for moon shots this is my method I cribbed from somewhere cant give named credit sorry .
put your camera on manual, ignore the meter, and use the following exposures @ ISO 100 speed for different moon effects -
1/125 sec @ f8 to show a very bright moon, almost white
1/125 sec @ f9.5 to show a bright moon with detail
1/125 sec @ f11 for a normal looking moon
1/125 sec @ f13.5 to show a somewhat darker moon
1/125 sec @ f16 to show a very dark, almost transparent moon
These exposures will also work for any phase of moon. You may want to bracket all 5 exposures each time you shoot the moon so you'll have different 'looks' from which to choose
you must use tripod, set camera to delay exposure so no shake.
regards
Alistair

[christ]

Hey nice photography..
Bildretusche

[adwb]

here is a better moon but to bright and to much detail for landscape moonlight image in my opinion
Alistair