Taken from my back yard.
Taken from my back yard.
Read less
Read less
Views
1910
Likes
Awards
Winner in Moon lighting Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
Categories
Steve-n-Ning
March 08, 2020
Thank you, sir. I wish I could have waited until tomorrow night, but we're supposed to be clouded over. So tonight it had to be.
richardklein
March 10, 2020
Very Nice! How did you get so much detail? I took mine at the same ISO, aperture and focal length, yet you got so much more detail. I'm in Illinois at about 800 ft. Could it be your air is clearer?
Steve-n-Ning
March 10, 2020
Thank you. Mesa, Arizona, is at 1,240 feet altitude. That is one possibility. Another is our relative dryness compared to the Midwest; I think the humidity was around 40% and ambient temperature was about 60 when I took the photo. I have found that moon photos work better in my setup using the Canon 5D's 'Live View', where I lightly tap the moon's image on the touch screen. The final possibility is lens. I use a Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens. It is big, heavy, and must be locked tight into a solid tripod. It has always provided me with razor sharp images. I crop the image to a 1:1 aspect ratio in Lightroom, and I have created mu own Lightroom preset for moon photos that puts me in the ballpark for final adjustments to exposure, contrast, detail, etc. I hope this is helpful.
rickimoen
March 14, 2020
i have tried to get beautiful photos of the moon like this but i seem to fail miserably. absolutley stunning capture.
Steve-n-Ning
March 16, 2020
Thank you. I tried for 40+ years to get a good moon photo. It finally took a combination of good camera, good lens, solid tripod, the right camera settings, and careful editing in Lightroom.
richardklein
March 15, 2020
Thanks Steve. I use a Sigma 160-600 f5-6.3 DG OS Contemporary lens. It was a bit humid when I took it and I was surprised when it worked as well as it did. Now you’ve given me a goal to work toward!
Steve-n-Ning
March 16, 2020
Thanks - I appreciate your input, Richard. I lived in the Chicago area for a time back in the 70s, and I know how the humidity can get in the way of atmospheric clarity. Phoenix is wonderfully dry most of the year; for us, 60 pct humidity is uncomfortable!
Steve-n-Ning
March 16, 2020
Hi, Richard. Sorry to be a pest, but I noticed one difference in our settings: you set your shutter speed at 1/250th, while I used 1/60th. Your camera has a much higher resolution than mine, and I wonder if you simply weren't allowing enough light to hit your sensor. Of course, this was a very bright moon, and I had to back off the exposure slider in Lightroom and increase the contrast slider to maximum. Just a couple of thoughts. Stay well.
richardklein
March 18, 2020
I did notice your shutter speed and was going to try that and the Lightroom Settings. Also, the Live View angle is interesting too, so I’ll check that out too. Thanks for the tips. I’ll let you know how it works out. Maybe I’ll visit my sister in Tucson during a full moon. ;-)
Steve-n-Ning
March 24, 2020
Thank you. I truly appreciate the compliment. This full moon was almost too bright; I have another moon photo titled 'Moon Over Mesa From My Back Yard' that I think is better than this one because it was not so overwhelmingly bright and had better shadows.
Steve-n-Ning
March 30, 2020
Thank you. This is my third moon photo on ViewBug. It was so bright, it made the post-processing difficult. I have another moon photo titled 'Moon Over Mesa From My Back Yard' that I think is even better than this one because it wasn't so bright and had great shadow details.
Steve-n-Ning
April 20, 2020
Thank you, Nikki. I appreciate the compliment. This moon was so bright, it almost overpowered my camera's sensor. I had to dial the exposure way back in Lightroom.
ronjudyluv2travel
November 27, 2020
Excellent capture! Keep up the amazing photos! I also checked out your settings and use about the same iso, shutter speed, aperture and still lack the crispness and details. I live in Lakewood which is at about 6,100 feet and have the exact Tamron lens but have a Nikon 7500 camera. I have yet to delve into Lightroom or any other processing and perhaps this is the difference. Sounds like you would recommend it? Ron
Steve-n-Ning
November 27, 2020
Thank you, Ron. This was the 'Worm Moon' from last March. It was so bright, I had to back off the exposure in Lightroom. The one trick I learned with my Canon that improved my moon photos was to use the touch screen shutter release instead of the normal one. I always shoot in RAW. Once I get the images into Lightroom, I convert them to B&W, then crop at a 1:1 aspect ratio. I have a new one that I posted just last night that came out better than this one, IMO. Over the course of editing moon shots in the past, I have developed and saved my own custom preset in Lightroom. That speeds up the editing process: last night's photo took only about 2 minutes to edit. I hope this is helpful. - Steve
Steve-n-Ning
October 10, 2021
I use a Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens zoomed out to 600mm. In some comments above, I go into detail about my settings, shooting and editing techniques.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken from my back yard.Time
I waited until the moon was overhead so I could minimize the effect of atmospheric aberration.Lighting
Not much to say: the moon did all the work.Equipment
Canon EOS 5D MkIV with a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens, supported by a 3Pod tripod.Inspiration
This was the 'Full Worm Moon' on 3/8/2020. It was one of the brightest moons of the year. I had successfully taken other shots of the moon on other nights, so I wanted to challenge myself with a very bright moon.Editing
Almost all of my post-processing is done in Adobe Lightroom, and that was the case here. Editing moon shots is very challenging for me, and this one was even more difficult because the moon was so incredibly bright. I had to reduce the 'Exposure' setting by quite a bit to compensate.In my camera bag
My Canon EOS 5D Mk IV usually wears a Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens. That is my go-to lens for the majority of my photos. For this shot, I used a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM lens. I also carry several other lenses: Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS USM and a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. I have one non-Canon lens: a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. I try to shoot with natural light all the time, but on those occasions where I need an external light source, I use either a Neewer CN-216 LED panel or a Canon Speedlite 580EX. I have tripods by Slik, 3Pod and Manfrotto. I have a Canon EOS 7D, a Canon EOS 30D and a Canon EOS 10D, all of which I still have and use as appropriate.Feedback
Take your shots when the moon is closest to Earth. This minimizes the amount of atmosphere you have to shoot through. More atmosphere will add both heat and light intensity distortion.