My guide to photographing the Moon. All photos by Gordon. Filmed by Ben Harvey Buy Gordon a coffee: www.paypal.me/cameralabs Gordon's book at Amazon: amzn.to/2n61PfI / Amazon uk: amzn.to/2mBqRVZ Like Cameralabs? Get the T-Shirt: redbubble.com/people/cameralabs/shop Ben Harvey's channel: th-cam.com/channels/4oop-sEgs4rb4nI3NxCkNA.html The Photographer's Ephemeris App: www.photoephemeris.com/ Sun Surveyor App: www.sunsurveyor.com/ #moon #lunar #photography
Hello Gordon. Thanks for your videos, I really enjoy them. One question, do you use photo stacking? I've seen some other tutorials for moon photography that uses that technique. What do you think about that?
@@3VAudioVideo I grabbed a few shots the day before, but bad weather blocked the view for several days in the UK. Either way, i don't think there's enough to make a video about it, especially as it's a much rarer sight than the Moon.
With 30 minutes less daylight week by week here in northern Sweden the moon is one subject that will be available in ample doses for the next few months. A very timely guide! Thank you.
Very inspiring and helpful tutorial to achieve a successful moon photo! So much new information that really make a big difference for me! Thank you so very very much, Gordon! Stay blessed!
Thanks Gordon, BRILLIANT video, you got off to a great start because you used the camera model I happen to own, the Canon 760D. Your video has totally revolutionised how I think about photographing the moon. No more photographing boring full moons for me, from now on!
glad you liked it, and thanks for the coffee! Yes, it's easy to fall into the trap of photographing a plain circle against a black sky that has no context or scale, but once you grab it just after moonrise or before moonset against a nice landscape or building, you'll be hooked! Good luck. PS - be sure to check out my Lunar Eclipse tutorial and my one on long exposures too!
Just gotten back to shooting the moon and this was a great tutorial. It's very well organized and the images are spectacular. Well done and tha k you for sharing, Gordon.
This really helps. I’ve been trying with varying degrees of success to get a satisfying shot of the moon for years! I’ll be out there this week with your tutorial very much in mind!
Thanks again Gordon for your tutorial, I can't wait to see the moon with this kodak az421 16mp 42x camera..when the moon appears in the sky lol, I love your shots of the moon very good, I doubt if I will get the same quality but to be truthful I bought the camera specifically for my daughters wedding, hopefully I should get some good photographs, the last time I used a Samsung 7 mega pixels camera with my other daughters wedding, I was more than happy at that time, so I am hoping to be more than happy with this kodak. Have fun hope to hear from you soon take care.
Excellent tutorial Gordon. I genuinely knew nothing about photographing the moon until we went out and shot this, and now that I have seen all of your other tips I feel equipped to give it a go! Happy to help out, as always.
hi after watching 100s of how to videos which I didn't understand after watching all your videos let me say they are the best easy to understand so cheers from Australia
21 College Student Here. I have a secondhand Nikon D3100 and got two lenses with it. (Normal and a (70 - 300 (?) zoom type of lenses). This video was interesting for learning about moon photography. Great video. 😊✌🏻
Great video. I enjoy taking photos of the moon when it’s on the horizon as well. I like the reddish colour and having something else interesting in the frame
Thank you Gordon, this is one of my favorite subjects, also one that I screw up the most! I’ve been using the R5 with the RF 800 and 2x, and EF 100-400 and 2x. I love craters, I get a few on non- full moons. On the 800 I use f11, 1/30 and iso 125. Thx
It's encouraging to know that even the pros have to make multiple trips to get a good moon shot! My success rate is pretty low, always seem to have some sort of cloud cover or hazy conditions that obscure it at the horizon...
Horizon shots are tough, there's almost always low cloud here in the UK, but you can always try for a higher Moon next to a taller landmark, but it will be harder to balance the exposure.
Great video! I find also that one can gain experience shooting the moon with just a few sessions. The 10x zoom and self timer settings are invaluable now I just wish the R7 didn’t revert to 1x after the burst of shots are taken. I must test the previous 7D line to see if that happens
I'm not sure, there probably are, but I didn't investigate further as it did what I wanted for a fair price. But if you find a good alternative that's cheaper, do let me know!
Helpful! Thanks! I've been shooting the moon off and on for about a year with varying results. Like yourself, I've found the phases other than full much more interesting and detailed visually due to the shadow and crater detail that becomes visible. Primary equipment I use are: Sony 6500, Sony 70-350mm at 350, Manual focus, manual settings only. Usually 1/60th, f8 (full moon) and iso 100. I've done it both handheld and tripod mounted using delay. Less light on the surface calls for f6.3 . Detail is good but I usually feel the need to crop quite a bit to get the larger image in the frame. Haven't tried using the video mode, but perhaps next time! Last night was the Halloween Full moon over Salem, Massachusetts, USA. Spooky!
Those settings sound close to mine, although yours are a bit brighter for Full Moon. Sony cameras often apply some dynamic range optimising unless you have it turned off which can help balance the tones. 350 on a crop sensor is plenty if you have a landscape element - it's tighter than those views I showed of the Moon and the two piers.
Photographing the Moon is one of my favourite games. But it's not an easy one, here, in the big city. At least not for someone who wants a foreground and I do want one. So, when it's full or its very last or very first crescent, I try and catch it when it rises or sets because it does so when there's still some light in the foreground, making it possible for me to capture detail everywhere in one shot. If, and that's a big if here, it's not cloudy. Happened again with the latest full moon. Clear(ish) skies before and after but not on the day it was full or even the day before and the day after. I did get something I might like from 2 days later, but the foreground was already pretty dark when I could see the Moon. Oh yeah, speaking of the foreground: it's also difficult to find an interesting foreground, with a clear view of the Moon and distant enough I can make an interesting composition with the long lens I'm bound to use for this kind of shot. Lots of challenges but I did get a couple I'm really happy with.
Awesome tutorial. Moon photography is one of the reasons why I decided to get into the hobby. Quick question: is it possible to use a teleconverter with any ef lens on an aps-c size canon? E.g. would a teleconverter work with the 70-300 + ef adapter on an m6ii ?
Thanks! Regarding the TCs, the answer is 'it might'! It can often be on a per-case basis, but if the lens works with a TC on a DSLR, it *should* be ok once adapted. Sadly no guarantees though.
Brilliant Gordon! This was probably the most thorough lunar tutorial in terms of cameras with lenses I've seen. I mainly image the Moon via the AVI stacking technique with dedicated astro cams and telescopes, but I'm keen to do some landscape Lunar shots after seeing this. I'm also intrigued as to which telescope you have? I can't see any Chromatic aberration and you had plenty of image scale so I'm going to take a stab at it being a 102mm Maksutov Cassegrain by Skywatcher or Celestron? Cheers Gordon, great tutorial!
Core blimey, the SDF version! Proper nice fluorite Apo is that, no wonder there wasn't any CA even at f5.4. My guess was rubbish, I only got the aperture right lol
@@Astrolavista I bought it second hand over 25 years ago! I also tried hard NOT to use it in this tutorial -m you only see it a couple of times. Most of what you see here was with that basic Canon 70-300.
In a single frame, I would focus on the foreground subject rather than the Moon, as we're used to seeing the Moon looking a bit fuzzy at times, but we want a building or a landscape to be sharp. You could of course stack or combine two separate exposures, but for me that's losing a bit of the original realism. I like capturing it all on one shot.
Excellent educational video, again, thank you. I'm going to look through your videos and see if you've done a star time-lapse (or similar instruction), too. Really appreciate you, thanks so much.
Excellent video Gordon, I love shooting the moon, similarly with less expensive gear and some have turned out really well. I live just up the cost in Worthing so I'll try and head for the beach in a few weeks and try a similar shot over Worthing pier. After watching your long exposure video I headed to the beach and took a blue hour long exposure shot of the pier and it is still one of my favourite photos.i would love to see more videos like this, I find them quite inspiring, do you do workshops?
In the old days of film it was 1/125, f11, iso100, spot metering but in the days of digital we can experiment different ways because we are allowed to take so many shots which with film usually meant 24 a roll.. I did not hear or I missed did you use spot metering?
I did not use spot metering here. Doing so would have made metering of a small moon in the frame more reliable, but even then, I prefer to just use manual exposure for the moon on a dark sky and my quote for the full Moon is the same exposure as yours.
@@cameralabs I used a Lumix Bridge camera x60 to shoot a full moon and even though the sensor is basically a phone one I got some very good images. I now have for my Nikon camera a Nikon 80-400 lens which on my crop sensor gives me max. 600mm. All I want now is a clear sky!
Thank you for sharing your very interesting tutorial, may I ask a question? I purchased a kodak pixpro az421 16mp 42x zoom just over 1000mm would it be possible to take reasonable photos of the moon? Many thanks.
@@cameralabs thank you for your reply, I will recap on your tutorial like you said, I know i can't expect too much with a £180 camera, too be truthful I bought especially to take photographs of my daughters wedding, thankfully she will not as far as the moon lol. Hopefully I should get better photographs than using my galaxy s21A smartphone. All the same would me nice to capture the moon thanks again.
@@cameralabs thank you Gordon, for your reply, I tried it out the other day, I parked up about 1/4 mile from oakham Church it does what it says on the tin, weather conditions wasn't to too good but it pulled the Church in. So far I am pleased with it, proof will be in the pudding on my daughters wedding day lol thank you again and good luck with your photography.
cracking thanks and them App sound and look great for Sun sets too I am trying to get the RF100-500 so if I get the 2x :) 1000 would be great nice and close . as Im in the middlands a nice tree may be a good foreground and the moon through the winter branches , I can see it just need to find the tree lol and get the lens , or may just go for the RF800 F11
I tried using 7 shot AEB for this but totally blew it. I am curious, how would you take photos when it's night time with the full moon out? Because obviously the moon will be way brighter than everything else. I guess take 2 photos WITHOUT AEB, one with the moon, one with the e.g. cityscape/landscape correctly expose then merge in post??
I would recommend photographing the Moon when it's just risen, so it's very close to the horizon and dimmer. I took all my example photos in this video with one exposure, no bracketing, and just adjusting levels on a RAW file if necessary.
I think there might be some error in the exposure formula: I shoot full moon at F8 1/125 and 200 iso with correct exposure. So it seems the moon in your area is four times brighter than in my backyard.
It depends how you want it to look AND if your camera is applying any tonal optimisation too, plus of course elevation in the sky, clarity of the sky etc.I also find that one ISO value on one brand is not always the same as an ISO value on another. My guidelines were always stated as a starting point and it's pretty easy to see if you need to brighten or darken, but the point was to come up with a starting point where you wuld at least see some detail on the disc before then refining.
A little late for my Halloween 'blue moon' photos last night but your advice is much appreciated. I figured some of this out through trial and error. Your videos are amazing and have inspired me to find a location with an interesting foreground during rise! 🌝
Some good information and tips, specially about the apps! Most people know the sunny 16 rule for daylight photography, but there's a lesser know loony 11 rule which works the same way for shots of the moon. For those that don't know, set your aperture to the corresponding rule and then use the same shutter speed as your ISO settings. It's obviously not always perfect, especially given British weather, but it's a decent starting point for those who are new to manual settings. Hope this helps.
What app would you say is better for just solely finding where the sun will rise and set. And where moon will be etc. Without getting too technical for beginners
I'd get The Photographers Ephemeris even if you just use it for the lines indicating sun and moon rise and set on a map. I use it more than anything else if you want the Sun or Moon close to the horizon.
Gordon Laing Thankyou for the reply. Is it fairly easy to use. Only had my camera a year so there’s still a lot that is new to me but love sunrises and sets and moon shots etc so something like this app will be brilliant for me. Just not massively technology minded so struggle with some bits.
Good question - since it's illuminated literally by daylight, I'd choose daylight WB if setting it manually, then you'll capture the colour you're seeing in person. It's a mot point when it's high in the sky for me as I often turn it to B&W anyway.
There's a full moon every Month - don't worry! These 'special' moons make barely any - or even no - difference visually - most are just names for different times of year.
@@cameralabs Haha I was expecting that 😂. I was thinking more along the lines that my camera is full frame, would it be better on crop setting to gain extra zoom?
@@pault2350 You can get a 960mm field of view with that lens and the RP set to crop, but keep in mind that you'll only get about 10 megapixels of resolution when you do. Not ideal.
@@pault2350 use the exposures I suggested and just zoom the lens to whatever looks best with your composition - at 600 you will be quite tight on a landscape view, but it could work depending on distance. Mine were at 400-500
@@pault2350 you should also try filming 4k on the RP as it incurs a tight crop, so it will really magnify the view with this lens. But for photos, don't crop in-camera - just do it afterwards if you need to.tighten the view. But for landscape shots, 600 is quite tight already and I think you may be satisfied around 400,
You quickly covered the apps you use to plot the movement/location of the moon visa-vie where you are in the world. I am not familiar with these apps and I could not clearly understand the actual names. How about providing technical information in the notes for the video? That would be helpful in trying to find them in the App Stores. Thank you for all the videos - lots to learn and experiment with in terms of what topics you cover!
Good point, I've added links in the description, and here as well: The Photographer's Ephemeris App: www.photoephemeris.com/ Sun Surveyor App: www.sunsurveyor.com/
Very weird, I use my 100-400L on a 5d3 and with a full moon and shoot up to 1/1250 at 5.6 with iso 100 using spot metering. Tonight I went out with about 1/4 moon and 100 iso, 5.6, 300mm at 1/80 on my m50 mkll with a 70-300L and it looked like crap, I always do it hand held with my 5d3 and sl2 but the M50 was not very good, just got it today so I'll have to re learn I guess.
There's a few things happening here. As I noted in the video, the exposure difference between full and smaller phases can be significant, and that's also before taking other factors into account. The pixels on your 5D3 are larger than the M50 since they have similar resolution, so they will have a larger dynamic range / lower noise base. Not sure if you're also saying there was camera shake, but maybe the OIS in the 100-400 is better than the 70-300, and obviously if you're using the 70-300 at 300 on a cropped sensor, it'll be equivalent to more than 400, so more chance of shake being visible. That said, i think you mentioned using the 100-400 on the SL2. Also it's often easier to handhold heavier setups than lighter ones. The M50 is very light, so easy to wobble. It's all about getting to know your gear and what it can and can't do and how to adapt. Best of luck!
Well...tried this yesterday night (Oct. 31st) close to midnight w/ Sony A6300 and SEL 55-210mm & up to 20 seconds exposure. It didn´t even come close to your photos.
20 seconds is too long, unless you wanted it to trail - see my exposure tips, even at 300mm equivalent, you should try to keep to half a second shutter or faster to avoid movement.
Thanks for an excellent tutorial Gordon, must try this at the next opportunity. very inspiring, as with your 'In Camera' book , which i always enjoy dipping in to, so much useful information and Great photographs in there to soak up.
I had once taken a moon shot using my phone's digital zoom it didn't look that bad I coloured it in lightroom in a way that it looked like Halloween 🎃 themed so it came out good enough now people don't have a excuse of not having a camera
I saw a photo of the moon during a solar eclipse where the photographer managed to capture some of the moon’s detail right at the moment of totality. Have you ever been able to do this?
@@cameralabs Huawei P30 Pro is amazing, you should do Smartphone photography Video's, they are getting better and better all the time, I have used Huawei, Samsung and Apple and I always say the Huawei P30 Pro is the best camera phone I have ever used, the monochrome is beautiful looking, have you stopped doing reviews with Doug Kaye, ok bye.
@@cariza5 I'd like to do more shows with Doug, but the reviews we did together were not very popular in terms of views. I've also tried doing some smartphone reviews in the past and they've always done really badly compared to my other videos! Not sure why?! People don't seem to want to see phone reviews from me!
@@cameralabs but I think Smartphone reviews would be more popular now as their cameras have got so good, the Huawei P30 Pro can take beautiful photos of the milky way.
Photographing the Moon it's very easy. This is all you need to do: 1) Take your phone 2) Go to the Moon 3) Take a photo and... voilà! Sure if don't want to go to the Moon, maybe be simply because you're too lazy, so follow exactly the instructions in the video.
I feel so stupid.. The obvious thing, the further away you get from something, the smaller it gets.. But there isn't really anywhere on earth you could go to get away from the moon to make that seem smaller.. So, yeah, taking a photo of the moon next to something far away makes the moon seem big... Super obvious.. but.. somehow seemed counterintuitive to my head at the same time.
You're right, but it also means you can increase or decrease the size of the foreground element by getting closer or further away from it, while the Moon remains the same in size.
My guide to photographing the Moon. All photos by Gordon. Filmed by Ben Harvey
Buy Gordon a coffee: www.paypal.me/cameralabs
Gordon's book at Amazon: amzn.to/2n61PfI / Amazon uk: amzn.to/2mBqRVZ
Like Cameralabs? Get the T-Shirt: redbubble.com/people/cameralabs/shop
Ben Harvey's channel: th-cam.com/channels/4oop-sEgs4rb4nI3NxCkNA.html
The Photographer's Ephemeris App: www.photoephemeris.com/
Sun Surveyor App: www.sunsurveyor.com/
#moon #lunar #photography
Hello Gordon. Thanks for your videos, I really enjoy them. One question, do you use photo stacking? I've seen some other tutorials for moon photography that uses that technique. What do you think about that?
@@osvalchaves I don't use photo stacking for the moon - no need for the result I want to achieve.
Did you get the Great Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn from Dec 21st? Will a video on that be coming soon?
@@3VAudioVideo I grabbed a few shots the day before, but bad weather blocked the view for several days in the UK. Either way, i don't think there's enough to make a video about it, especially as it's a much rarer sight than the Moon.
Wow! beautiful shots
Thanks!
With 30 minutes less daylight week by week here in northern Sweden the moon is one subject that will be available in ample doses for the next few months. A very timely guide! Thank you.
You're very welcome, it's so easy t photograph from different places!
One of the most informative moon photography tutorial I've ever seen. Huge work behind it, thank you very much!
Extraordinary!
What I like most is the holistic approach.
From shot the moon as part of a landscape to moon shot only and much more!
Thanks a lot!
Very inspiring and helpful tutorial to achieve a successful moon photo! So much new information that really make a big difference for me! Thank you so very very much, Gordon! Stay blessed!
Glad you found it useful, hope you enjoy my other tutorials!
Thanks Gordon, BRILLIANT video, you got off to a great start because you used the camera model I happen to own, the Canon 760D. Your video has totally revolutionised how I think about photographing the moon. No more photographing boring full moons for me, from now on!
glad you liked it, and thanks for the coffee! Yes, it's easy to fall into the trap of photographing a plain circle against a black sky that has no context or scale, but once you grab it just after moonrise or before moonset against a nice landscape or building, you'll be hooked! Good luck. PS - be sure to check out my Lunar Eclipse tutorial and my one on long exposures too!
Just gotten back to shooting the moon and this was a great tutorial. It's very well organized and the images are spectacular. Well done and tha k you for sharing, Gordon.
You're very welcome, glad it worked out for you! We've got a Full Moon coming soon, so hopefully it helped you with positioning it near the horizon!
Excelllent video with really helpful information. Thank you.
You're very welcome, glad you found it useful!
definitely the best video of moon photography!
Thankyou!
The Moon-Venus crescent composite is super!
Thanks! It's really fun having them to scale like that!
Excellent! Very thorough and well-presented. Clear skies!
Thankyou!
Excellent tips. Also fascinated by the moon for decades so its time to shoot it.
I hope this helps!
This really helps. I’ve been trying with varying degrees of success to get a satisfying shot of the moon for years! I’ll be out there this week with your tutorial very much in mind!
You're very welcome, good luck!
Thank you for this interesting and informative tutorial.
You're very welcome!
Thanks again Gordon for your tutorial, I can't wait to see the moon with this kodak az421 16mp 42x camera..when the moon appears in the sky lol, I love your shots of the moon very good, I doubt if I will get the same quality but to be truthful I bought the camera specifically for my daughters wedding, hopefully I should get some good photographs, the last time I used a Samsung 7 mega pixels camera with my other daughters wedding, I was more than happy at that time, so I am hoping to be more than happy with this kodak. Have fun hope to hear from you soon take care.
Excellent tutorial Gordon. I genuinely knew nothing about photographing the moon until we went out and shot this, and now that I have seen all of your other tips I feel equipped to give it a go! Happy to help out, as always.
Thanks Ben, you took the production to the next level! I think we got some great shots those nights!
hi after watching 100s of how to videos which I didn't understand after watching all your videos let me say they are the best easy to understand so cheers from Australia
Why thankyou!
Really well done Gordon. Enjoy your latest lockdown buddy!
Yeah, looking forward to that one...!
Well done Gordon. Nice tutorial that inspires.
Thankyou, it took ages, so I love to hear when people enjoyed it or found it useful - thanks!
Everyone needs to watch this video. Thank you for this.
Thankyou!
21 College Student Here. I have a secondhand Nikon D3100 and got two lenses with it. (Normal and a (70 - 300 (?) zoom type of lenses). This video was interesting for learning about moon photography. Great video. 😊✌🏻
Hope you manage to take some lunar photos soon! The 70-300 will be fine when cropped in playback, or for moonrise images.
Great video. I enjoy taking photos of the moon when it’s on the horizon as well. I like the reddish colour and having something else interesting in the frame
Exactly, it's almost like a lunar eclipse free of charge!
Your videos, tutorials and reviews are absolutely fantastic, keep up the good work really appreciate your time and efforts.
Thanks!
Thank you Gordon, this is one of my favorite subjects, also one that I screw up the most! I’ve been using the R5 with the RF 800 and 2x, and EF 100-400 and 2x. I love craters, I get a few on non- full moons. On the 800 I use f11, 1/30 and iso 125. Thx
Thanks! That shot I show at 800mm is with the RF 800mm...
@@planetfun85 to slow?
Brilliant video gordon great pictures.
Thanks Lee!
That's a nice one. Thanks for the detailed information.
You're welcome!
Bloody brilliant and will be using the apps for a project of mine thank you!
You're very welcome!
Great tutorial Gordon. Thanks
Glad you liked it! Do check out my lunar eclipse tutorial too!
It's encouraging to know that even the pros have to make multiple trips to get a good moon shot! My success rate is pretty low, always seem to have some sort of cloud cover or hazy conditions that obscure it at the horizon...
Horizon shots are tough, there's almost always low cloud here in the UK, but you can always try for a higher Moon next to a taller landmark, but it will be harder to balance the exposure.
Great informational video Gordon cheers
Thanks!
This is such great information! Thank you for your tutorial!!
Thanks, I put a LOT of work into this one ! Please share it!
Thank you very much for this Gordon! Learned a lot!
You're welcome!
Excellent! Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thank you for the information
You're very welcome!
Great video! I find also that one can gain experience shooting the moon with just a few sessions. The 10x zoom and self timer settings are invaluable now I just wish the R7 didn’t revert to 1x after the burst of shots are taken. I must test the previous 7D line to see if that happens
Glad you found it useful!
Excellent stuff Gordon. Now I know how, thank you.
You're very welcome!
Definitely inspiring and helpful
Thanks!
Great video. Thanks for all the effort that went into this. Very inspiring.
Thanks for watching it!
Any sunsurveyor free alternatives? And great video as always Gordon.
I'm not sure, there probably are, but I didn't investigate further as it did what I wanted for a fair price. But if you find a good alternative that's cheaper, do let me know!
Helpful! Thanks! I've been shooting the moon off and on for about a year with varying results. Like yourself, I've found the phases other than full much more interesting and detailed visually due to the shadow and crater detail that becomes visible. Primary equipment I use are: Sony 6500, Sony 70-350mm at 350, Manual focus, manual settings only. Usually 1/60th, f8 (full moon) and iso 100. I've done it both handheld and tripod mounted using delay. Less light on the surface calls for f6.3 . Detail is good but I usually feel the need to crop quite a bit to get the larger image in the frame. Haven't tried using the video mode, but perhaps next time! Last night was the Halloween Full moon over Salem, Massachusetts, USA. Spooky!
Those settings sound close to mine, although yours are a bit brighter for Full Moon. Sony cameras often apply some dynamic range optimising unless you have it turned off which can help balance the tones. 350 on a crop sensor is plenty if you have a landscape element - it's tighter than those views I showed of the Moon and the two piers.
thank you for sharing
You're very welcome!
Photographing the Moon is one of my favourite games. But it's not an easy one, here, in the big city. At least not for someone who wants a foreground and I do want one. So, when it's full or its very last or very first crescent, I try and catch it when it rises or sets because it does so when there's still some light in the foreground, making it possible for me to capture detail everywhere in one shot. If, and that's a big if here, it's not cloudy. Happened again with the latest full moon. Clear(ish) skies before and after but not on the day it was full or even the day before and the day after. I did get something I might like from 2 days later, but the foreground was already pretty dark when I could see the Moon. Oh yeah, speaking of the foreground: it's also difficult to find an interesting foreground, with a clear view of the Moon and distant enough I can make an interesting composition with the long lens I'm bound to use for this kind of shot. Lots of challenges but I did get a couple I'm really happy with.
I use standard 4/3 camera and lens, should I dial f8 or openwide for aperture?
Awesome tutorial. Moon photography is one of the reasons why I decided to get into the hobby. Quick question: is it possible to use a teleconverter with any ef lens on an aps-c size canon? E.g. would a teleconverter work with the 70-300 + ef adapter on an m6ii ?
Thanks! Regarding the TCs, the answer is 'it might'! It can often be on a per-case basis, but if the lens works with a TC on a DSLR, it *should* be ok once adapted. Sadly no guarantees though.
I too felt that cresent moon is more interesting than full moon. Thanks for the tutorial.
You're very welcome! Crecents for the win!
Great video! Really enjoyed that.
Thankyou!
Great video, thanks for sharing.
You're very welcome!
Brilliant Gordon! This was probably the most thorough lunar tutorial in terms of cameras with lenses I've seen. I mainly image the Moon via the AVI stacking technique with dedicated astro cams and telescopes, but I'm keen to do some landscape Lunar shots after seeing this. I'm also intrigued as to which telescope you have? I can't see any Chromatic aberration and you had plenty of image scale so I'm going to take a stab at it being a 102mm Maksutov Cassegrain by Skywatcher or Celestron? Cheers Gordon, great tutorial!
Thanks! I have a Televue Genesis SDF, a 540mm f5.4 refractor.
Core blimey, the SDF version! Proper nice fluorite Apo is that, no wonder there wasn't any CA even at f5.4. My guess was rubbish, I only got the aperture right lol
@@Astrolavista I bought it second hand over 25 years ago! I also tried hard NOT to use it in this tutorial -m you only see it a couple of times. Most of what you see here was with that basic Canon 70-300.
thnaks. is the focus on the moon, or focus on the foreground subject? or is it hyperfocal?. Any stack necesary, or single shot?
Thank you again👋
In a single frame, I would focus on the foreground subject rather than the Moon, as we're used to seeing the Moon looking a bit fuzzy at times, but we want a building or a landscape to be sharp. You could of course stack or combine two separate exposures, but for me that's losing a bit of the original realism. I like capturing it all on one shot.
@cameralabs thank you for the tip. I'll try it one of theese days 🙋🏻♂️
Very helpful!
Glad you liked it! Check out my lunar eclipse tutorial for more info!
Excellent educational video, again, thank you. I'm going to look through your videos and see if you've done a star time-lapse (or similar instruction), too. Really appreciate you, thanks so much.
Thanks Gordon :)
You're welcome!
Excellent video Gordon, I love shooting the moon, similarly with less expensive gear and some have turned out really well. I live just up the cost in Worthing so I'll try and head for the beach in a few weeks and try a similar shot over Worthing pier. After watching your long exposure video I headed to the beach and took a blue hour long exposure shot of the pier and it is still one of my favourite photos.i would love to see more videos like this, I find them quite inspiring, do you do workshops?
Thanks! I can do private workshops tailored around individual needs, so have a think about what you'd like to do!
In the old days of film it was 1/125, f11, iso100, spot metering but in the days of digital we can experiment different ways because we are allowed to take so many shots which with film usually meant 24 a roll.. I did not hear or I missed did you use spot metering?
I did not use spot metering here. Doing so would have made metering of a small moon in the frame more reliable, but even then, I prefer to just use manual exposure for the moon on a dark sky and my quote for the full Moon is the same exposure as yours.
@@cameralabs I used a Lumix Bridge camera x60 to shoot a full moon and even though the sensor is basically a phone one I got some very good images. I now have for my Nikon camera a Nikon 80-400 lens which on my crop sensor gives me max. 600mm. All I want now is a clear sky!
@@shot2death876 yes, there's not much we can do if the clouds are in the way!
Thanks for the tips!
You're very welcome!
Brilliant video 👍
Thanks! Have you seen my eclipse and long exposure tutorials?
Thank you for sharing your very interesting tutorial, may I ask a question? I purchased a kodak pixpro az421 16mp 42x zoom just over 1000mm would it be possible to take reasonable photos of the moon? Many thanks.
Yep just try the same exposure settings in the video
@@cameralabs thank you for your reply, I will recap on your tutorial like you said, I know i can't expect too much with a £180 camera, too be truthful I bought especially to take photographs of my daughters wedding, thankfully she will not as far as the moon lol. Hopefully I should get better photographs than using my galaxy s21A smartphone. All the same would me nice to capture the moon thanks again.
@@michaellyne8773 actually those superzoom cameras can do a really good job with the Moon, so good luck!
@@cameralabs thank you Gordon, for your reply, I tried it out the other day, I parked up about 1/4 mile from oakham Church it does what it says on the tin, weather conditions wasn't to too good but it pulled the Church in. So far I am pleased with it, proof will be in the pudding on my daughters wedding day lol thank you again and good luck with your photography.
cracking thanks and them App sound and look great for Sun sets too I am trying to get the RF100-500 so if I get the 2x :) 1000 would be great nice and close . as Im in the middlands a nice tree may be a good foreground and the moon through the winter branches , I can see it just need to find the tree lol and get the lens , or may just go for the RF800 F11
Remember that tree will need to be very far away unless you want the Moon blurred behind it...
@@cameralabs Yes that makes it even harder to find lol
I tried using 7 shot AEB for this but totally blew it.
I am curious, how would you take photos when it's night time with the full moon out? Because obviously the moon will be way brighter than everything else. I guess take 2 photos WITHOUT AEB, one with the moon, one with the e.g. cityscape/landscape correctly expose then merge in post??
I would recommend photographing the Moon when it's just risen, so it's very close to the horizon and dimmer. I took all my example photos in this video with one exposure, no bracketing, and just adjusting levels on a RAW file if necessary.
Do you have a link to get the camera that was used?
Handy tip on the apps!
You're welcome!
Excellent tips !! any ideas for this with cameras that are not mirrorless or dslr (like a Canon PowerShot SX50 HS?
Yes, everything I say here applies to any camera.
Great video love taken picture's of the moon could u tell the app you used cheers Jonathan
Thanks! The apps are in the description
Awesome tutorial
Thanks!
nice tutorial sir..i love it
Thanks!
@@cameralabs you are welcome sir
I think there might be some error in the exposure formula: I shoot full moon at F8 1/125 and 200 iso with correct exposure. So it seems the moon in your area is four times brighter than in my backyard.
It depends how you want it to look AND if your camera is applying any tonal optimisation too, plus of course elevation in the sky, clarity of the sky etc.I also find that one ISO value on one brand is not always the same as an ISO value on another. My guidelines were always stated as a starting point and it's pretty easy to see if you need to brighten or darken, but the point was to come up with a starting point where you wuld at least see some detail on the disc before then refining.
@@cameralabs Thanks for the information. The key of photography is to apply what you learned and adjust it. This is a really great tutorial!
A little late for my Halloween 'blue moon' photos last night but your advice is much appreciated. I figured some of this out through trial and error. Your videos are amazing and have inspired me to find a location with an interesting foreground during rise! 🌝
Thanks, and good luck!
PS There's a full moon every Month - don't worry! These 'special' moons make barely any difference - there just names.
@@cameralabs haha very true. Plus all the phases it goes through each month are neat to capture too! Endless opportunities to be creative.
@@2061winger exactly! That sequence of the phases I show in the video was assembled during our last lockdown from my loft window!
Some good information and tips, specially about the apps! Most people know the sunny 16 rule for daylight photography, but there's a lesser know loony 11 rule which works the same way for shots of the moon. For those that don't know, set your aperture to the corresponding rule and then use the same shutter speed as your ISO settings. It's obviously not always perfect, especially given British weather, but it's a decent starting point for those who are new to manual settings. Hope this helps.
What app would you say is better for just solely finding where the sun will rise and set. And where moon will be etc. Without getting too technical for beginners
I'd get The Photographers Ephemeris even if you just use it for the lines indicating sun and moon rise and set on a map. I use it more than anything else if you want the Sun or Moon close to the horizon.
Gordon Laing Thankyou for the reply. Is it fairly easy to use. Only had my camera a year so there’s still a lot that is new to me but love sunrises and sets and moon shots etc so something like this app will be brilliant for me. Just not massively technology minded so struggle with some bits.
16:20 what about HDR photo?
What programs you use to locate moon position on landscape.
Thank you.
They are in the description!
What is the white balance stetting for: Moon in dark sky? Moon on the horizon?
Good question - since it's illuminated literally by daylight, I'd choose daylight WB if setting it manually, then you'll capture the colour you're seeing in person. It's a mot point when it's high in the sky for me as I often turn it to B&W anyway.
Good stuff...I missed the Blue moon last night here in the US...aarrgghh...
There's a full moon every Month - don't worry! These 'special' moons make barely any - or even no - difference visually - most are just names for different times of year.
I have a Canon eos rp and just bought a Sigma 150-600mm lense. Any tips for settings to get good moon pics?
Yes, everything I say in this video!
@@cameralabs Haha I was expecting that 😂. I was thinking more along the lines that my camera is full frame, would it be better on crop setting to gain extra zoom?
@@pault2350 You can get a 960mm field of view with that lens and the RP set to crop, but keep in mind that you'll only get about 10 megapixels of resolution when you do. Not ideal.
@@pault2350 use the exposures I suggested and just zoom the lens to whatever looks best with your composition - at 600 you will be quite tight on a landscape view, but it could work depending on distance. Mine were at 400-500
@@pault2350 you should also try filming 4k on the RP as it incurs a tight crop, so it will really magnify the view with this lens. But for photos, don't crop in-camera - just do it afterwards if you need to.tighten the view. But for landscape shots, 600 is quite tight already and I think you may be satisfied around 400,
You quickly covered the apps you use to plot the movement/location of the moon visa-vie where you are in the world. I am not familiar with these apps and I could not clearly understand the actual names. How about providing technical information in the notes for the video? That would be helpful in trying to find them in the App Stores. Thank you for all the videos - lots to learn and experiment with in terms of what topics you cover!
Good point, I've added links in the description, and here as well: The Photographer's Ephemeris App: www.photoephemeris.com/
Sun Surveyor App: www.sunsurveyor.com/
Is there less heat shimmer in the hours before dawn than in the hours after twilight?
There can be, yes.
What aperture do I need to capture the alien base station on the moon?
f4 to avoid diffraction
What about white balance ?
Good point, although I'm sure I mentioned it in there! I always set it to daylight - since it's being illuminated by direct sunlight.
Very weird, I use my 100-400L on a 5d3 and with a full moon and shoot up to 1/1250 at 5.6 with iso 100 using spot metering. Tonight I went out with about 1/4 moon and 100 iso, 5.6, 300mm at 1/80 on my m50 mkll with a 70-300L and it looked like crap, I always do it hand held with my 5d3 and sl2 but the M50 was not very good, just got it today so I'll have to re learn I guess.
There's a few things happening here. As I noted in the video, the exposure difference between full and smaller phases can be significant, and that's also before taking other factors into account. The pixels on your 5D3 are larger than the M50 since they have similar resolution, so they will have a larger dynamic range / lower noise base. Not sure if you're also saying there was camera shake, but maybe the OIS in the 100-400 is better than the 70-300, and obviously if you're using the 70-300 at 300 on a cropped sensor, it'll be equivalent to more than 400, so more chance of shake being visible. That said, i think you mentioned using the 100-400 on the SL2. Also it's often easier to handhold heavier setups than lighter ones. The M50 is very light, so easy to wobble. It's all about getting to know your gear and what it can and can't do and how to adapt. Best of luck!
@@cameralabs Thanks!
Yesss! My favorite is photographing the moon with in the foreground branches.
Be interesting to see you do with a telescope aswell. Great video
Could you recommend a good telescope to a m43 user?
How much do you have to spend and what do you want to image?
@@cameralabs Let's say my budget is €1000 and I want to take close ups of the moon.
@@ekjellgren looking at my examples in the video, what focal length would you want?
@@cameralabs I'd say the image at 17:24 looks really cool. Is that a crop from 17:35?
My longest lens is the m43 200mm 2.8 with thd 1.4 tc btw..
Well...tried this yesterday night (Oct. 31st) close to midnight w/ Sony A6300 and SEL 55-210mm & up to 20 seconds exposure. It didn´t even come close to your photos.
20 seconds is too long, unless you wanted it to trail - see my exposure tips, even at 300mm equivalent, you should try to keep to half a second shutter or faster to avoid movement.
Which app did you use to record your phone's screen?
My phone has a built-in screen recorder.
@@cameralabs your phone looks like a Samsung. I have a Samsung too, where can I reach to phone's screen recorder?
Dear Sir,
I think You Information is Wonderful / are You any Relation of Galileo ?
❤❤
Thanks for an excellent tutorial Gordon, must try this at the next opportunity. very inspiring, as with your 'In Camera' book , which i always enjoy dipping in to, so much useful information and Great photographs in there to soak up.
I had once taken a moon shot using my phone's digital zoom it didn't look that bad I coloured it in lightroom in a way that it looked like Halloween 🎃 themed so it came out good enough now people don't have a excuse of not having a camera
Brighton Beach Victoria Australia??
I'm local to where I am! Brighton UK
@@cameralabs got excited for a second and thought we had another australian youtube star!!
I saw a photo of the moon during a solar eclipse where the photographer managed to capture some of the moon’s detail right at the moment of totality. Have you ever been able to do this?
Nice video Gordon, one of my favorite objects to photograph is the moon, this in all stages
Hope on some clear nights around the 13th this month
Gordon is that the Huawei P30 Pro Smartphone you have.
No, it's a Galaxy S7 or S20.
@@cameralabs Huawei P30 Pro is amazing, you should do Smartphone photography Video's, they are getting better and better all the time, I have used Huawei, Samsung and Apple and I always say the Huawei P30 Pro is the best camera phone I have ever used, the monochrome is beautiful looking, have you stopped doing reviews with Doug Kaye, ok bye.
@@cariza5 I'd like to do more shows with Doug, but the reviews we did together were not very popular in terms of views. I've also tried doing some smartphone reviews in the past and they've always done really badly compared to my other videos! Not sure why?! People don't seem to want to see phone reviews from me!
@@cameralabs but I think Smartphone reviews would be more popular now as their cameras have got so good, the Huawei P30 Pro can take beautiful photos of the milky way.
@@cariza5 yes, but look at my viewing figures on my S20 videos posted a few months ago and that was supposed to be a hugely popular phone,
How to take more clear
Follow my tutorial
Photographing the Moon it's very easy. This is all you need to do: 1) Take your phone 2) Go to the Moon 3) Take a photo and... voilà! Sure if don't want to go to the Moon, maybe be simply because you're too lazy, so follow exactly the instructions in the video.
spot metering
yes that would work better, but I still prefer manual to make sure.
Man, you look like Sting! :P
You should add timestamps to your videos! It'll help a lot to viewers
I may do that for this one
I feel so stupid.. The obvious thing, the further away you get from something, the smaller it gets..
But there isn't really anywhere on earth you could go to get away from the moon to make that seem smaller..
So, yeah, taking a photo of the moon next to something far away makes the moon seem big...
Super obvious.. but.. somehow seemed counterintuitive to my head at the same time.
You're right, but it also means you can increase or decrease the size of the foreground element by getting closer or further away from it, while the Moon remains the same in size.
Nikon P1000 and you have 3000mm, done! 😁
Been there, done that! www.cameralabs.com/nikon-coolpix-p1000-review/3/
@@cameralabs nice pics indeed Gordon, I just love the reach and stabilization of the P1000, it's a fun camera to play with