Full Moon Tonight

[Speed]

And it's going to be high overhead. If you have clear skies where you live (it's a solid overcast and raining here!) then go out and take a look - or even a couple of shots.

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing...cle_1637_1.asp

[Chunk]

Interesting article Speed. Does that effect tidal pull as well as position in the sky?
I'll have to look up the times for moonrise and setting here as I like having something besides moon in the pics. Right now we are overcast so I have to hope for clearing. We do have some new snow so there is some potential for good shots.

[ken1953]

Interesting article Speed. Does that effect tidal pull as well as position in the sky?
I'll have to look up the times for moonrise and setting here as I like having something besides moon in the pics. Right now we are overcast so I have to hope for clearing. We do have some new snow so there is some potential for good shots.

Hey Chunk,
What do you suggest for settings for my Nikon for shots of the moon?? I am going to try to get some shots and maybe some nice ambient light shots of the snow cover.
Ken

[walterick]

Hey Speed

I have the full moon marked on my calendar for night shooting but thanks for the heads up anyway

Chunk - our full moon always rises at sunset, and sets at sunrise. I'm not sure if that's true for all latitudes. But it should be true for mid-US lats. Everyday thereafter, the moon rises about 45-50 mins later, for one month, until the full moon rises again at sunset.

Ah, the symetry of the heavens

[shutterman]

I think that all I will be looking at is sleet snow or rain coming down tonight - no moon for me. Post some shots if you get some though!

[Chunk]

Chunk - our full moon always rises at sunset, and sets at sunrise. I'm not sure if that's true for all latitudes. But it should be true for mid-US lats. Everyday thereafter, the moon rises about 45-50 mins later, for one month, until the full moon rises again at sunset.

Thanks Rick, I knew that and went to weather.com as an easy place to check the times. While there I noted that snow flurries are projected for next day or so. I'll have to try for some day or two after full moon shots.

[Chunk]

I haven't looked at the camera manual yet, but I'd suggest using as high an ISO setting as possible without getting noise (don't know what that is for your camera - maybe someone else will). I set my camera for point exposure sensing and meter on the moon and then shoot a bracket of a stop around that. One of the three will be close. The camera is on a tripod.
I'm not sure what to tell you for snow under the moon.
Here a few shots, all at ISO 100 taken in the morning as taken, only reduced in size and sharpened for posting.
The first (the moon) is 1/13 second at f8.
The second (the scene) is .3 second at f2.8.
The third was taken about 15 minutes later with more ambient light and the moon sinking into some really wet air was 1/30 sec at f2.8

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the settings you want to use will vary quite a bit with conditions. There are others here with more experience with this who can probably give you better advice.

[shutterman]

Chunk - the last one is awesome!

[Speed]

Hey Chunk,
What do you suggest for settings for my Nikon for shots of the moon?? I am going to try to get some shots and maybe some nice ambient light shots of the snow cover.
Ken

For shooting the moon itself, start with the sunny f16 rule. Brackett from there. If you have a digital camera, then check the image. (That's with an SLR or DSLR.) With a Coolpix, you are going to have to add some stops of light. I find that with the Coolpix 5700, ISO 100, f8 and around 1/60th of a second is a good starting point.

If you're looking to get the moon and the some landscape, then shoot as close to moonrise as possible. Otherwise, you will have to overexpose the moon.

[Chunk]

Chunk - the last one is awesome!

Thanks. A lot of people like prints from that shot.

[ken1953]

Thanx everyone...but it looks like it's going to be a moot point for me tonight. It started snowing again and we're badly overcast...I don't go to bed until late, so maybe I can get a couple of shots of it at it's peak...I will try all these settings...if I can figure it out...Ken

[Axle]

Oh nice one! I'd go out and shoot some but we're in the middle of a snow storm here.

[SmartWombat]

Cloudy all night, unfortunately.
But at least it's going to happen at least once more in my lifetime.