Like a lot of people, I enjoy photographing the moon. And, like a lot of people, I thought photographing the moon would be really hard.
I've found it's not as hard as it looks, but getting the hang of it was a bit challenging.
Here are the top three things that help me photograph the moon.
Remember, the moon is BRIGHT.
I first photographed the moon in February 2008 when there was a lunar eclipse.
This is one of my first shots.
Notice that you can't see any of the details in the moon. A big reason why is that I used a long shutter speed (in this case 1/2 a second). My thinking was that it's dark, so I need the shutter to be open for a long time. However, because the moon is so bright, this isn't true.
This next shot was taken with a very short shutter speed.
See all the detail? Pretty cool, huh?
Take your camera off manual focus.
The conventional wisdom for photographing things that are far away is to "focus on infinity." Basically, focusing on infinity means you're focusing on what's the farthest away. To learn how to focus on infinity with your camera, you'll need to check your camera's manual.
If you think you've focused on infinity, but you're still not seeing a clear moon through your viewfinder, try using plain old manual focus. I've found that the "focus on infinity" advice doesn't work for me. There's a point with my camera past which everything goes from in focus to blurry again. So, as with everything, experiment.
Use a tripod if at all possible.
You'll hear this over and over and over. It IS the best policy when photographing the moon. If you don't have a tripod, make one. I gave suggestions on how to do this in an earlier post.
That said, if you don't have a tripod and can't make one, give taking the photo hand held a shot. All you have to lose is a few blurry photos on your memory card. There will be another wonderfully photographable moon in another month.
By the way, the first photo above? I took it hand held in October 2008. It likely would have been better if I'd used a tripod, but I was amazed when I saw the detail I manged to capture. That said, I'm going to take my own advice and try again next month, this time with my tripod.
Do you have any tricks and tips?
What about tips for photographing the moon using a point-and-shoot?
I never had the courage to try this, but I know it's possible. Tell us what you know! And tell us what you want to learn. The moon has captured the imagination forever, and the possibilities for posts on photographing it are endless.
When not watching the moon, Rebecca blogs at Ramblings by Reba.
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