- This topic has 40 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Welcome! This is the place for you to post photos for the January 2024 photo assignment, participate in discussion with your fellow photographers, and ask questions to Lenspiration Team Members!
Click here to read the current Assignment Details, learn how to shoot the assignment, submit your high-resolution photos, and register for the next webinar!
I can’t tell you how EXCITED I am about this assignment! Taking a “single shot” of the moon with the landscape (and without relying on HDR or photo merging) is just challenging enough that I keep finding myself trying to do better at it! Here are the photos I took on my three excursions trying to shoot this assignment. I have a feeling I’ll be out trying to shoot it again around Christmas time, as well as at the end of January too. 🙂
Attachments:
FWIW – the light of the moon is reflected light from the sun. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, if you use daylight as a rule of thumb for correct exposure for the moon’s details, you will be close. That will, of course, make the rest of your exposure dark.
Some issues I ran into last night:
1) My camera (Canon 80D) seems to have a 30 second maximum exposure. I seem to remember longer exposures available on older cameras. And whatever happened to “Bulb”?
2) You need a certain minimum of light to have the auto focus work. If the auto focus can’t find achieve focus, the shutter is locked so you can’t shoot. You may need to use manual focus, which is really, really difficult in the dark.
3) My tripod head wobbles like a drunken sailor. Just because it is 30+ years old (and was a cheap one then!) is no excuse!Question:
Does the assignment require a single shot? (HDR, layered editing of multiple shots need not apply?)Hints:
Find out when moonrise is for your area. I used the https://www.almanac.com/astronomy/moon-rise-and-set web site.
You need a location where the moon is visible as it comes over the horizon in order to have enough light on the surrounding scene.
Do as much prep work as possible beforehand. The time window to take the shot is quite limited – maybe 5 minutes or so – especially if you are limited to longer exposures.
Beware of other light sources (Passing traffic lights, Christmas lights, for example) that can ruin your shot.
Take a flashlight (maybe even a light you can wear on your head that will keep your hands free).
Don’t forget any of your gear when leaving in the dark!
Be very careful after shooting – when it is too dark to see potential obstacles in your path.
As James experienced – even on a cloudy day, sometimes there is a brief window right at the horizon where the moon will be visible or partially visible.James: It is exciting to see you shooting at Quinippiac College, Hamden, CT, looking over Sleeping Giant Mountain. I basically have shot from the same place during the daylight, trying to get a good picture of Sleeping Giant.
I encourage everyone to shoot for this assignment. It is a great opportunity to make mistakes you can learn from. It presents some very challenging, contradictory requirements. Because of the difficulty and the challanges, getting a great shot of the moon for this assignment will be very personally rewarding.
Quick question: Should the pictures be taken at dusk/night, or would daylight photos be acceptable as well?
Or, at 2:38 AM on a cloudy, rainy (maybe snowy night) on one of your potty trots, notice the shaft of moonlight coming through a skylight, grab your camera and shoot the moon!
Ok folks, checking in here for the first time since Christmas! Sorry for not being very responsive. :]
Thank you @dotremain, for sharing your experience! I can relate with a wobbly tripod head, since I’ve used one like that before. It’s almost better to not even have a tripod in that case! 😀
You can find Bulb mode in M mode. Just go beyond 30″ to B. https://www.eos-magazine.com/articles/camera-feature/bulb-mode.html However, when shooting the moon, because it moves so fast, I don’t think you’ll want to go any slower than 1sec (https://www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-settings#step6)
And to answer your question, nope! The assignment does not require a single shot. However, any photo manipulating that you do should be true to life. It is not acceptable to take a nice landscape photo and then photoshop in a moon wherever you want. The assignment is to photograph (not digitally recreate) the moon with the landscape. But that’s a good question!
And some great hints there, too. I have also found the Photographers Ephemeris helpful too for determining the times and direction of the sun and moon: https://app.photoephemeris.com/
When photographing the moon at its fullest, you’re right, you only have a short amount of time to work. However, a day or two before the full moon, or a day or two after the full moon, are also great times to photograph the full moon with the landscape. Sometimes its even better, since there’s more light to work with on the landscape. The only issue would be that before and after the full moon the moon isn’t technically “full”, but it looks full enough for photos.
That’s really neat that you were at basically the same spot before! After photographing the moon there, I thought it would be fun to go back for a sunrise sometime . . . to capture Sleeping Giant. Tis a small world. 🙂
Good question, @flamewriter! Ziesemer Family Publishers is looking for a photo that illustrates the mood and emotions associated with Clair De Lune. This means a photo taken during the day with sunny blue skies probably wouldn’t be chosen. However, the way the photo is exposed, or dynamics that other elements like stormy clouds or mist might contribute, I’m not going to say daytime photos are ineligible. Personally, I think dusk is going to be your best bet. Nighttime could work, but that would make exposing for anything in the foreground quite difficult (unless you have experience with off-camera flash, of course), for the reason that @dotremain mentioned, the surface of the moon being the same exposure value as daytime here on earth.
Hi James,
I was wondering, does the picture have to be current? I think I have a picture that matches the specifications but I took it a while ago. If you could let me know that would be great!-Jerrell
Hi @jarrell! Technically, no, your submission does not have to be current. However, since the assignment is intended to help us grow in a specific area, it is better if you are able to take one (or some) specifically for the assignment. Then again, there’s no telling if you’ll ever have clear skies at the right times where you live (especially around the time of the full moon)! So in that situation, it would almost be expected that you’d find something from your portfolio. Either way is fine. Thanks for asking!
We are getting very close to the full moon! The other night, Julianna and I were talking a walk in the snow after dark and were amazed at how bright even a half moon was!
I hope by now you have a few locations picked out for where to photograph the moonrises and moonsets. If so, now’s the time to start going out in the late afternoons to photograph the moonrises when the skies are clear!
When I was taking recent photos of the moon it was so high in the sky that it was difficult to shot moon/landscape photos. Some of these may look like the moon is pasted into the pictures, but I just photographed them. Yet some of the pictures I sharpened on Lightroom using the adjustment brush.
The pictures with the moon in its haft phase, where taken in the morning (around 7:30 ).The rest where at or around dusk.
-SarahAttachments:
I got these the last moon phrase. I tried using the trees to fill the frame and make more of a “scene”.
-HannahAttachments:
You got the moon on a clear day, @blessingscaptured! Yay! If you have more time to shoot and can find a subject further away, try that.
It’s been super cloudy for the past couple of days here in West Virginia, thus very disappointing for tonight, the night of the one and only full moon of January and the last full moon available for this assignment! 🙁 Maybe it will be different over the next few days?
Starting tomorrow morning, if you have clear skies, it’s time to be chasing the moonsets! Every morning for the next 3-4 days, the moon will be relatively close to the horizon during the morning golden hour. Find subjects (like a mountain, lighthouse, barn, lone tree….) far away from you and use a telephoto lens to include them in your photos of the moon!
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.