photographing the moon

brianp55

brianp55

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just lately i have seen a few threads on photographing the moon, so i have had a go myself but talking to a workmate today he asked if it would be worth shooting in b&w. has anyone tried this and if so what was the outcome:thumbs: or:thumbsdown: any comments welcome.
 
Yes, the moon lends itself well to B&W.
Why not shoot in colour and convert to B&W. Then you can compare to see what pleases your eye the most.
 
Don't forget that the moon actually is quite colourful, which careful processing can bring out. If you want a black and white image, you would be better shooting in colour and then converting afterwards, just in case you want to have a go at bringing out the colours, which you won't be able to do if you shoot in B&W.

165.jpg
 
Sorry i don't know answer to OP but just wanted to say WOW to Scarecrow - that's amazing!
 
Scarecrow said:
Don't forget that the moon actually is quite colourful, which careful processing can bring out. If you want a black and white image, you would be better shooting in colour and then converting afterwards, just in case you want to have a go at bringing out the colours, which you won't be able to do if you shoot in B&W.
Click to expand...

Wow! I decided I had to have a go at that. So I went out with my 300 f2.8 and a 2x TC and got this -

mOON_20101119_002.jpg


Then I shoved the Vibrance and Saturation sliders up to max in Lightroom and got this -

Coloured%20Moon_20101119_001.jpg
 
Good attempt Frank. People often don't believe that the moon is actually quite colourful, or will suggest that the colours have been added by the photographer, but a close examination of our images will show that the colours in both do match.
 
Scarecrow said:
That was taken with a 2350mm mirror lens with a fixed aperture of f/10 using a 40D.
Click to expand...

Thanks Derek for your reply. I was so impressed with your photograph that I have been searching the Internet and have read lots of reviews/ reports on this type of lens, which can be purchased for a very reasonable price. The largest I found was 800mm. What make is yours?

Alan
________
Headshops
 
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Rob that's a really nice image, well exposed and some great detail along the terminator.



killwilly said:
Thanks Derek for your reply. I was so impressed with your photograph that I have been searching the Internet and have read lots of reviews/ reports on this type of lens, which can be purchased for a very reasonable price. The largest I found was 800mm. What make is yours?

Alan
Click to expand...

It's a 9 1/4" Celestron.

lens.jpg
 
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Scarecrow said:
It's a 9 1/4" Celestron.

lens.jpg
Click to expand...

Not exactly a walkabout lens is it. Heh :lol:

Quality image mate.

I tried shooting through my scope but it didn't come out too good. Shot it again using my 20x Canon SX1 and it wasn't bad.
 
Just wanted to add my bit here, Derek.

That is about the most detailed photo I have ever seen of the moon. Almost looks inhabitable don't it. And SOME LENS!!!

My only thoughts are regarding the colouring. I note a little PS but did you enhance the colours in that shot? The blue resembles water and I cannot think what else could give a blueness on the Moon.
 
Here's a link that describes how to produce colour images of The Moon. Having just had a quick google on the topic, there are quite a few images where the colour has been boosted. What's interesting is that they all show very similar colours to those that are in Derek's image - so they must be real.
 
hollis_f said:
Here's a link that describes how to produce colour images of The Moon. Having just had a quick google on the topic, there are quite a few images where the colour has been boosted. What's interesting is that they all show very similar colours to those that are in Derek's image - so they must be real.
Click to expand...

Wow! A couple of amazing images on that link! :)

Edit: for folks struggling with sharpness, bear in mind that a) tripods are no guarantee of absolute stability - often far from it, and b) when you crop on image, as you very often have to in the absence of a really long lens, then that is effectively increasing the focal length and any camera movement with it. If you enlarge 50% of the frame area, that's a 1.4x increase in effective focal length, and enlarging just a quarter of the frame area is an effective doubling of focal length. The shutter speed must be raised accordingly, regardless of the actual focal length being used.
 
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Some amazing photos in this thread - well done all.
 
I didn't enhance or add to the colours at all. All I did ws play with the vibrance and saturation sliders to bring out the colours that were already there.

This one hasn't been played with, but if you look carefully you still get a hint of what is there.

160.jpg
 
Hey Derek,

Considering this pic was taken from a satellite (just a wee bit closer) the fine detail that you have captured from a quarter of a million miles away is simply amazing.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/url/20071001_kaguya.jpg


(I should have fibbed and claimed it as mine) :)

Interesting thing is that whenever I have tried photographing the Moon, it always turns out blue?

Is this something to do with Spectrum Shift?
 
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thanks everyone for the imput, also some super shots to emulate. seems like colour then convert to b&w is the way to go, best of both then.
 
rizla01 said:
Interesting thing is that whenever I have tried photographing the Moon, it always turns out blue?

Is this something to do with Spectrum Shift?
Click to expand...

Have you checked your white balance setting? The only time I get blue images of the moon is when I have been shooting with my WB set to tungsten and have forgotten to change it back to something more appropriate.
 
I had camera WB set to sunlight with 80 ISO.

Cant remember the speed setting tho.
 
Jupiter is very prominent at the moment so it probably is.

If you'd like to find your way around the night sky, specific to where you are and in real time, you could do a lot worse than download a free planetarium software called Stellarium.

http://www.stellarium.org/

It's really easy to use, you can fast forward to see what is viewable later in the evening, you can fast rewind to identify what you saw earlier, or just leave it running in real time. All you need to do is tell it where in the world you are. The easiest way is to select the nearest large town from those listed. If you want to get it spot on, you can enter your lat/long coordiantes.
 
rizla01 said:
Hey Derek,

Considering this pic was taken from a satellite (just a wee bit closer) the fine detail that you have captured from a quarter of a million miles away is simply amazing.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/url/20071001_kaguya.jpg


(I should have fibbed and claimed it as mine) :)

Interesting thing is that whenever I have tried photographing the Moon, it always turns out blue?

Is this something to do with Spectrum Shift?
Click to expand...

Somehow I don't think that is the moon :shrug: ... The clouds could be the giveaway clue ;)
 
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Scarecrow said:
Don't forget that the moon actually is quite colourful, which careful processing can bring out. If you want a black and white image, you would be better shooting in colour and then converting afterwards, just in case you want to have a go at bringing out the colours, which you won't be able to do if you shoot in B&W.

165.jpg
Click to expand...

I love this shot. Never realized the moon was so colourful
 
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sorry i have to ask another question, what does the ideal histogram in a moon shot look like :thinking: :bonk:
 
hi scarecrow {derek}
any chance of a hi res copy of your picture of the moon its fantastic
i will have it put on canvas and hang it in my sunroom
just new on forum, tried to pm you but it wouldn't let me
 
i would love a good hi res copy of the moon picture in this forum
to enlarge and put on canvas absolutly brilliant pics
 
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