Shooting the Moon - Canon EOS Rebel XT

The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam

Adam wrote:

The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam

I just took a moon shot with my Rebel XT. I used a F20 and 1/10 of a
second and got pretty good results. With a 105mm lens I didn't get very
close though.

The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?

One tip - if you are trying to capture topographic detail, you will
always get better images if you photograph the moon while it is waxing
or waning. A full moon means no shadows and washed out detail. A half
(or less) moon means strong shadows so you can pick out more detail in
the relief (mountains and valleys).

On 5 Sep 2006 20:03:14 -0700, Adam wrote:

The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?

The moon might well be overexposed, and you wouldn't see much of
its detail due to many blown highlights. But that wouldn't result
in a hazy or blurry moon. If by the rest of the picture being
"clear" you mean it is sharp and well focused, how distant are the
rest of the objects? If they're not extremely distant, and your
shots used a large aperture, the camera may have focused on the near
objects and the depth of field may have been small enough to render
the moon blurry.

Also, even though the moon appears to be large when it's near the
horizon, it really isn't as large as it appears. If you take
pictures of the moon near the horizon and also higher in the sky,
using the same focal length, you won't see much difference in the
moon's diameter. This might allow the camera's AF to focus on
nearby objects instead of the relatively small moon, but this
wouldn't explain why you had the same result when focusing manually.
This leads me to think that overexposure was your problem. If you
reduce the exposure, the sky should become the darker blue that you
want, but other terrestrial objects might turn out darker than you'd
like. If the skyline isn't too irregular and you have some
proficiency with photo software, you could take several shots using
different exposures and create an image combining the best exposures
of the terrestrial objects, the sky and the moon. BTW, the moon is
*much* brighter than most people assume, and the right exposure for
it is nearly what you'd use for average daylight shots. If the
Rebel XT's histogram has the ability to show parts of the image that
are either underexposed or overexposed, you'll be able to easily see
if the moon is exposed properly. Otherwise, use either exposure
compensation or manually set the aperture and shutter speed and take
a few shots until you get the proper exposure for the moon.

Adam wrote:

The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam

Without seeing the pictures, it's not possible for others
to judge what makes them unsatisfactory. Why don't you
post some of your shots at an online gallery ? If that's
not convenient, at least give the exposure values you used.

It may not be a focus problem at all. Since the moon is
very bright compared to the rest of the night sky, it's
difficult to get correct exposure even with spot metering,
and well-nigh impossible with multi-point metering. Manual
setting of the exposure values is practically a must.

Adam wrote:
The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam

Some moon pictures with various cameras, and commentary:

http://www.david-taylor.myby.co.uk/imaging/moon.htm

http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/moon-test1/

Focal lengths used were around 400mm full-frame equivalent (35mm), so
perhaps a ~250mm lens on the XT.

David

"Adam" wrote in message
ups.com...
The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam

When I shoot the moon (novel concept there) with my D70, I use a 300mm f4
lens and a 2x converter. I also take several shots (that combination does
not allow auto exposure) to get the exposure correct. Looking at the
histogram is a great aid.

I start with the sunny 16 rule because the moon is illuminated by the sun.
That is just a start, I usually wind up at about 1/60 second, but your
mileage may vary.
That is with ISO 200.

The image size on the sensor is f/110 where f is the focal length of the
lens. To get frame filling shots takes a long telephoto or an astronomical
telescope. By the way, the 1.5 factor does not apply.

Jim

"Adam" wrote in message
ups.com...
The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam

The moon really isn't any larger. It is an illusion due to being near the
horizon. As the others stated, start with the "sunny 16" rule for getting
the detail. If you are also trying to get terrestrial features in the shot,
You may have to make separate exposures and compo (photoshop) the moon into
the other image. In the film days, they would use double exposure.


While we're at it, here is my moon. Canon digital Rebel, 300mm f/4L IS + 2x
converter.
http://home.att.net/~jriegle/moon.jpg
John

"Adam" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam


If the sky had been blue, even dar blue, the moon would have been
overexposed, I presume.

http://www.dhost.info/photocanon/50-...?size=1&exif=Y
and previous picture.

Bigma

Bigma wrote:

"Adam" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
The moon was really low and large last night so I tried to shoot it
with my new Rebel XT. Using both auto-focus and manual-focus, the moon
itself appears hazy and blurry while the rest of the picture looks
perfectly clear. Now that I think about it, maybe I needed to use a
shorter shutter speed to get the detail of the moon. Any tips on
getting a nice bark blue color of just after sunset as well as the
detail of the moon?
Thanks!
Adam


If the sky had been blue, even dar blue, the moon would have been
overexposed, I presume.

http://www.dhost.info/photocanon/50-...?size=1&exif=Y
and previous picture.

Bigma


Hello, Bigma:

Excellent image!


Cordially,
John Turco