WHEN shooting the moon in the night sky, it is tempting to expose for maximum light capture, with a large aperture, slow shutter, and high ISO. But that is the absolute wrong way to go about it, as that will result in a big round shiny blob on a black background.
The correct settings — typically f/11, 1/500, and ISO 100 — can be disconcerting at first sight. These are also typical for shooting in bright sunlight, so why do they work for shooting the moon in the darkness of the night?
My personal theory is that they work because the moon is in a similar lighting condition as a subject lit by a midday sun. After all, the moon glows because it reflects sunlight. Lots of sunlight.
This shot was taken with a Tokina 80-200mm f/4 on the D40 in manual metering and manual focus mode. I felt nostalgic for the simplicity of the D40 after spending so much time with the D200 and just had to fire it up.
Eddy.
Getting more experience as time goes by. Keep it up!
Too nice this shot. Keep it up. Can I use this shot on my blog in one of my post? I’ll link back to you. Waiting for your permission first ofcourse… :-)
Thanks.
Yes, you can use this shot.
Eddy.
Now everyone is talking about the American economy and eclections, nice to read something different. Eugene