Heya all...

I was experimenting with night sky shots-- moon, star trails, ect. while on vacation. I managed to get one really nice star trail shot, but my moon shots were dismal...

When we were in Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, there was one night with a super bright moon. I couldn't get a decent shot. The moon would flare in the picture and burn part of it out unless I underexposed it to the point that it was too dark.

Anyone have any tips for taking pictures of the moon?

The exposure is usually one stop brighter than Sunny 16, so f11 at 1/100 (or 1/125) if using ISO400 film or f11 at 1/400 (or 1/500) if using ISO400 film.

Were you using slide film or color negative film? Sometimes labs will try to "average" your exposure when making the print from neg film and since the surrounding area is dark, they will brighten the moon too much.

From my exp:

Use -2 f-stops as a general rule. But you will need to experiment. You might even go minus 2.5 - 3 f stops. This will give you good detail on the moon's surface.

Use the largest lens opening you can so that the shutter is pretty fast. The image will blur if you use too slow a shutter. Try shooting when it's lower on the horizon to minimize blur.

To *really* fill up the frame btw, you will need longer lens than 500. I have one and it still doesn't get in very close. :)

Hope this helps - GB

I've tried some moon shots, and my best ones are a double exposure. One fast moon (Sunny 16 rule) at least 400mm+, and one long exposure at a wide angle. I've tried it with both slide and negs, with good results on both.

One of my favorite shots is of a log cabin at night with startrails, a detailed moon, and I 'lit' the cabin with my car's headlights for about 1-2 seconds.

Its fun to experiment with moon/stars!


Kathy