DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

How to Shoot the Moon – in Honor of Neil Armstrong

Sep 1, 2012 by Udi Tirosh 1 Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Submissions for our How I Took It contest are starting to roll in and today I would like to share an interesting submission that has to do with blue moons astronauts and, of course, photography. Photographer Jason Carlton made a basic tutorial about shooting the moon. You’d be surprised at how little gear you need to photograph spectacular moon images. Tonight is a full moon. Go give it a try!

082812 Honor Neil Armstrong r2
if you can’t tell from the name of my blog, I am enthralled by all things space. I am amazed at the precision with which humans can launch a rocket from Earth and land Man or machine on distant moons or planets. I am humbled by the dedication each astronaut has for their “profession” and proud to know that I have shaken hands with Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Charlie Duke, Gene Cernan, and countless other moonwalkers, astronauts, and mission control personnel.

When I heard of Neil Armstrong’s passing, I was saddended that I never had the chance to meet him. From everything I had heard about him, he was humble, and convinced that he was just doing his job when he took Man’s first steps on the moon. So this post is my way of honoring Neil Armstrong, and I invite others to share their moon photos this week in his honor.

I digress. This blog post isn’t just about my love of space. It’s about my experiences in photographing the moon, and sharing with others the simple things that will hopefully give them the confidence to DIY and shoot [for] the stars… or at least the moon!

Here are the 4 simple steps I used a few moments ago to capture this shot of the moon, with a clarity that even surprised me – though I wish I had a more powerful zoom lens. Or better yet, a Saturn V rocket to take me to the moon to snap a few photos in person!

082812 Honor Neil Armstrong r2

Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/100 | f/11 | ISO 100 | (Manual Mode)
And a setting that hopefully will make you LOL: Focal Length 238,900 Miles.
 

STEP 1 – Camera Setup

  • Attach the lens with the longest zoom
  • Put your camera in Manual Mode
  • Start with ISO 100, f/11, and shutter speed of 1/100

STEP 2 – Location Setup

  • Choose a location that works for you. The photo above was shot from my back door. If you can, get away from ambient light.
  • Find the moon (if it’s overcast, go back inside and try for the moon another night).

STEP 3 – Getting Ready to Shoot

  • Use a tripod if you have one handy. If not, set down or lean against something to help keep the lens steady. (I did NOT use a tripod for the photo above)
  • Zoom your lens all the way in to get as close to the moon as you can.
  • You can auto focus on the moon, then switch to manual mode (which is what I did), or you can just refocus on the moon for each shot (which also works).
  • Hold it steady and snap a shot.

STEP 4 – See How It Looks, Adjust Accordingly

  • You can simply look at the LCD screen on your camera to get an initial look at the photo (unless you are using film).
  • If the moon looks dark, adjust one of two things – the aperture or shutter speed.
  • If you’re not using a tripod and the moon looks blurry, try again. You can try holding your breathe as you pust the shutter release button to reduce your movements.
  • Keep adjusting camera settings to snap a few shots. No harm in trying a few different settings to see how it changes the outcome.

Now that you have the photos, take the camera card over to your computer and adjust the exposure, temperature, etc. as you wish. You can even make it a black and white photograph to eliminate any odd colors of the moon (unless you want it to be a rare Blue Moon).

I hope this helps, and I invite you to give it a shot (literally) and then share your photo and camera settings with me in the comments. With the Blue Moon on Friday (Aug 31), it’s a great week to give the moon a shot… literally!

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Neil Gaiman’s Advice For Creative People Is Harsh, True, And Mostly Optimistic Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon and Photographer, Dies at 86 Maid of honor hilariously photobombs her best friend’s wedding photoshoot Trump tweets a photoshopped image of a dog receiving Medal of Honor, sparks massive meme roast

Filed Under: Inspiration, Tutorials Tagged With: How I Took It 2012

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

« Think Tank Airport International v2 Camera Bag Review
Are You Brave Enough To IR-ize Your Camera? »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • This massive 114-gigapixel virtual tour of Barcelona took three months to create
  • Canon EOS R3 facial recognition now knows who to focus on in a crowd
  • Canon EOS R5 now shoots 400-megapixel photos after new firmware update
  • Midjourney stops free trial due to “trial abuse”
  • Fujifilm ‘pauses’ sales of color film in Japan

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy