Tonight's Moon
- Thread starter BRZED
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Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED
I pressed a button.
I can press a button, but I can't take a picture like that.
You just haven't tried.
Photography is an art that takes years of practice and work to obtain the skill that allows one to take a shot like that. Anyone can claim to be a photographer, but few can be classified as a true professional.
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED
I pressed a button.
I can press a button, but I can't take a picture like that.
You just haven't tried.
Photography is an art that takes years of practice and work to obtain the skill that allows one to take a shot like that. Anyone can claim to be a photographer, but few can be classified as a true professional.
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED
I pressed a button.
I can press a button, but I can't take a picture like that.
You just haven't tried.
Photography is an art that takes years of practice and work to obtain the skill that allows one to take a shot like that. Anyone can claim to be a photographer, but few can be classified as a true professional.
To take a picture like this all you need is the appropriate gear and marginal basic knowledge. With modern cameras WYSIWYG. You do not have have to process your film to lean learn from your mistakes. You can immediately check your picture and adjust according to what needs adjusting. You learn on the go. In person, I can show you in 2 minutes how to take a shot with minor technical hurdles like a Moon picture. Now, shooting hummingbirds in flight takes some practice and special skills. I wish I could do that.
Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED
I pressed a button.
I can press a button, but I can't take a picture like that.
You just haven't tried.
Photography is an art that takes years of practice and work to obtain the skill that allows one to take a shot like that. Anyone can claim to be a photographer, but few can be classified as a true professional.
To take a picture like this all you need is the appropriate gear and marginal basic knowledge. With modern cameras WYSIWYG. You do not have have to process your film to lean learn from your mistakes. You can immediately check your picture and adjust according to what needs adjusting. You learn on the go. In person, I can show you in 2 minutes how to take a shot with minor technical hurdles like a Moon picture. Now, shooting hummingbirds in flight takes some practice and special skills. I wish I could do that.
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
When you gaze at the moon have you ever noticed one odd bright star in the sky that just looks larger and brighter than any other star. From Southern California you can see this star by looking toward the east just above the horizon in the hours before dawn. It stays their as the other stars rotate west. It remains.
Sometimes it appears in the west just above the horizon. For about 5 years I have asked people what that "star" might be. Not one person has ever answered correctly. So, I'll ask you the same question. What is that bright star?
Scroll down to find the answer....
It's the ISS.
Uh.... What? Unless I'm misinterpreting your description, and forgive me if I am, but what you are describing is Venus. The ISS never stays in one spot from any vantage point on earth. It appears as a slow, steadily moving dot of light, which can vary from somewhat faint to incredibly bright (mag -4.0 or even brighter). I see it all the time, and lots of other satellites too (I'm a geek, I watch satellites all the time). Seeing it passing in the same general place, the same time of day, multiple days in a row just doesn't really happen. It never stays in any one spot, ever, its constantly moving.
Go out in the early dawn hours right now, and Venus is *VERY* bright about 30 degrees off the eastern horizon (at least from my vantage point) and hour or two before sunrise. If you get good at tracking it, it can be seen in the middle of the day if you know exactly where to look.
When you gaze at the moon have you ever noticed one odd bright star in the sky that just looks larger and brighter than any other star. From Southern California you can see this star by looking toward the east just above the horizon in the hours before dawn. It stays their as the other stars rotate west. It remains.
Sometimes it appears in the west just above the horizon. For about 5 years I have asked people what that "star" might be. Not one person has ever answered correctly. So, I'll ask you the same question. What is that bright star?
Scroll down to find the answer....
It's the ISS.
Uh.... What? Unless I'm misinterpreting your description, and forgive me if I am, but what you are describing is Venus. The ISS never stays in one spot from any vantage point on earth. It appears as a slow, steadily moving dot of light, which can vary from somewhat faint to incredibly bright (mag -4.0 or even brighter). I see it all the time, and lots of other satellites too (I'm a geek, I watch satellites all the time). Seeing it passing in the same general place, the same time of day, multiple days in a row just doesn't really happen. It never stays in any one spot, ever, its constantly moving.
Go out in the early dawn hours right now, and Venus is *VERY* bright about 30 degrees off the eastern horizon (at least from my vantage point) and hour or two before sunrise. If you get good at tracking it, it can be seen in the middle of the day if you know exactly where to look.
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
When you gaze at the moon have you ever noticed one odd bright star in the sky that just looks larger and brighter than any other star. From Southern California you can see this star by looking toward the east just above the horizon in the hours before dawn. It stays their as the other stars rotate west. It remains.
Sometimes it appears in the west just above the horizon. For about 5 years I have asked people what that "star" might be. Not one person has ever answered correctly. So, I'll ask you the same question. What is that bright star?
Scroll down to find the answer....
It's the ISS.
Ah...no.
The ISS is a man-made Earth satellite, in a non-geosync orbit. As such, it never remains in the same place. You're most likely seeing Venus as Mercury is too close to the Sun.
When you gaze at the moon have you ever noticed one odd bright star in the sky that just looks larger and brighter than any other star. From Southern California you can see this star by looking toward the east just above the horizon in the hours before dawn. It stays their as the other stars rotate west. It remains.
Sometimes it appears in the west just above the horizon. For about 5 years I have asked people what that "star" might be. Not one person has ever answered correctly. So, I'll ask you the same question. What is that bright star?
Scroll down to find the answer....
It's the ISS.
Ah...no.
The ISS is a man-made Earth satellite, in a non-geosync orbit. As such, it never remains in the same place. You're most likely seeing Venus as Mercury is too close to the Sun.
JHZR2
Staff member
I was walking back from the park and the sky was still a light evening blue, but the moon was decently high in the sky. Being reasonably far north we don't get it too high in the sky this time of year. We have lots of trees around our home, so I ran out in the street with my 500mm lens and tried to grab a shot. Cropped down, this is what I got:
Plenty of them were soft. I was trying to hone my skills shooting handheld (usually Id have it on a tripod with a timer). They came out OK. I did play with unsharp mask a bit so these aren't raw... I don't have a great feel for using it to be honest. But GIGO...
The sky was nice evening blue, and the moon was stark white, unfortunately Im not good enough to figure how to capture that color and minimize shake and shoot handheld and get it sharp. Im just not steady enough and can't hold my breath well enough I guess...
Plenty of them were soft. I was trying to hone my skills shooting handheld (usually Id have it on a tripod with a timer). They came out OK. I did play with unsharp mask a bit so these aren't raw... I don't have a great feel for using it to be honest. But GIGO...
The sky was nice evening blue, and the moon was stark white, unfortunately Im not good enough to figure how to capture that color and minimize shake and shoot handheld and get it sharp. Im just not steady enough and can't hold my breath well enough I guess...
JHZR2
Staff member
Tonight we had a nice full moon. I love doing moon shots, so I pulled out the tripod and took a couple shots. These are the two best, one just cropped, one cropped and I tried an unsharp mask on it...
So, funny story, I got a new used lens and had to play with it without knowing JHZR2 was doing the same thing.
It's a t-mount "Cambron" 500mm f/8, your typical cheezy 1980's mail order gimmick lens. It's all glass, no mirror, and literally half a meter long. Approx 4 glass elements, pretty simple design, but not a barn burner. I opened my ebay package and mounted it right up.
Tripod mounted, 1/30 sec at f/22. Post processed to bring up some contrast. I can do better using a timer or remote. Next month!
JHZR2
Staff member
Why shoot 1/30? I took mine at around 1/2000. Did you lock up the mirror to prevent motion?
The moon is overwhelmingly bright compared to the sky, and even keeping ISO low, it comes out well.
1/30 will really kill you with shake I think. Ive gone by the turle of thumb that 1/x seconds should have x=2xfocal length, minimum.
I like 500mm, but really need 800 or 1000.
I recently got two MF backs, and Nikon did make a 1000mm lens for them. Too bad you have to spend the $$$ on a digital back for them to be cost effective. If I can find that lens cheap, I might take the plunge.
But I suppose this would be the better/smarter buy...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...A&A=details
The moon is overwhelmingly bright compared to the sky, and even keeping ISO low, it comes out well.
1/30 will really kill you with shake I think. Ive gone by the turle of thumb that 1/x seconds should have x=2xfocal length, minimum.
I like 500mm, but really need 800 or 1000.
I recently got two MF backs, and Nikon did make a 1000mm lens for them. Too bad you have to spend the $$$ on a digital back for them to be cost effective. If I can find that lens cheap, I might take the plunge.
But I suppose this would be the better/smarter buy...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...A&A=details
I was bracketing, and also wanted to close the iris in case it helped with any optical defects. I did use "live view" which holds the mirror up... on some of my shots, but I don't recall if this was one of them.
I know it's "daytime on the moon" so the sunny f/16 rule still applies. Probably used ISO 200-400.
My biggest problem possibly was focus; many lenses go "past infinity" for thermal expansion of the metal barrel and my night vision was going all to heck looking through the viewfinder, then not.
But, hey, a long winter full of crisp clean air is ahead!
I know it's "daytime on the moon" so the sunny f/16 rule still applies. Probably used ISO 200-400.
My biggest problem possibly was focus; many lenses go "past infinity" for thermal expansion of the metal barrel and my night vision was going all to heck looking through the viewfinder, then not.
But, hey, a long winter full of crisp clean air is ahead!
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