Moon

[Emily Haight]

Hey guys! Here is a picture of the moon I took a little bit ago. Although it’s not a full moon, I was so excited to try out some night photography I just couldn’t wait for a full moon! What are y’alls thoughts on how I could’ve improved?😁

Nikon D5000
ISO 200
200mm
F/5.5
polarized filter

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[Nathanael & Samantha Frazer]

Personally I often find gibbous and crescent moons more interesting than a full moon itself- they seem to have more depth to them.
I’m curious, what was the purpose of the polarizer for this shot? Polarizers will cut a quarter to a full stop of light (depending on the quality) and will either raise your iso or lower your shutter speed. Although at this zoom level the image doesn’t look blurry or noisy, it probably is not terribly necessary.
Honestly there isn’t much negative to say about this image- you kept it simple, the moon looks sharp and in focus, (at this zoom level) and the exposure looks good, maybe just the tiniest thing on the dark side. (pun intended) This is probably a personal thing, but the moon “feels” a little high a little high in the image.

[Jamie Parfitt]

Does the moon really have that texture on it? The picture seems to have stipples all over it, like the skin of an orange. And sort of regular vertical dashes. What caused that? The filter would not have done that, would it?

[Nathanael & Samantha Frazer]

I think what you’re seeing is JPEG compression artifacts. The patterns and stripes you see are just that. A bitmap (each pixel mapped out individually) image is too large for web, so the image is compressed by representing it as blocks and patterns of pixels. That is how the JPEG file format works. This particular image is very heavily compressed, so the blocks and patterns have become visible. A higher quality compression will look better, and have less visible artifacts, but the file will be much larger. Here, the file is only 66KB so it could have been uploaded in a much larger size and quality if the OP had felt the need.

[Ryan Madaris]

Nice! I would probably position the camera so there is a silhouette of a tree, or some other type of vegetation in the bottom right corner. I think having something else in the frame keeps the photo from not being too boring. Great job with the exposure, by the way!

[John Machen]

I agree with @rmadaris. Here’s a few examples of having more than the moon in the frame. Nice picture BTW @emilyhaight.

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[Susannah Hoffman]

Like how it’s off-centered. It definitely makes the photograph more interesting!

[Emily Haight]

@Nathanael & Smantha Frazer

I had the filter and used it on a trip to Alaska, and forgot to take it off. But when I realized I had it on, I did take it off and shot the moon some more without it. But I felt like the images looked slightly better with the filter on.

@Ryan Madaris

Some tree silhouettes definitely would’ve been nice! But unfortunately I was taking this picture in my neighborhood, and no silhouettes were possible. 😕

[Sally Berry]

I have always struggled with moon shots. I have a great 200mm lens, but have difficulty focusing and making the result look as large as the photo you shot. Any thoughts? I like that your photo is not a perfectly full moon – It gives more interest.

[Ezra Morley]

I have always struggled with moon shots. I have a great 200mm lens, but have difficulty focusing and making the result look as large as the photo you shot. Any thoughts?

@ultimatebundles1, with a 200mm lens it will be rather tough to get a nice clear picture of the moon with any details (like craters or shadows). 200mm is just a little too short to get a good view of the moon. Even a 300mm is really a little on the short side. 🙂

Just for fun, here’s a comparison of a 300mm lens to a “superzoom” compact camera. The moon on the left is at 300mm, the one on the right is 50x zoom with a Canon SX50.

EDIT: here are a couple of pictures taken at 400mm as well. I need to get my lens out and shoot the moon again, it’s been a while! 🙂

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[Sally Berry]

So beautiful …I will leave these moon shots for others until I acquire other equiptment. I will continue to focus on plants and herbs. Perhaps I will try a few with my 200mm to practice. I love crescent moons! 🙂

[James Staddon]

As a member of “The Click”, I talked about your photo on the live webinar the other night. You can rewatch it here! https://www.lenspiration.com/video/webinar031318/

[James Staddon]

I will leave these moon shots for others until I acquire other equiptment.

@ultimatebundles1, you don’t have to have a zoom lens to shoot the moon! In fact, I prefer using standard focal lengh lenses. Here are some articles/topics on the subject if you’d like to start experimenting….

Finally! The Moonset I’ve Been Waiting For!
Any Tips on Moon Photography?

[Author]

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