Howl at the moon

I've been tinkering with night/moon shots a bit. How can I incorporate "more" in the shot while keeping the moon in focus..ie..branches and such? The first shot had the moon just cresting over a ridgeline of pines & maples and I would love to have pulled it all together. Maybe better during waning daylight? I also struggled with the autofocus on this one..didn't seem to want to lock on.

A75... F8.0~ISO50~1/50 using a 2.4X tele-converter. Thanks
http://img233.exs.cx/img233/4259/moonweb3fv.jpg

http://img233.exs.cx/img233/5673/moonweb28dd.jpg