A Little bit of Lunar Photography

I couldn’t help but notice the other night that the full moon was out – and it was really, really bright. So bright, in fact, that I decided I could hand-hold some photos of the moon!

full moon 1

In retrospect, I probably still should’ve used a tripod – after all, I was taking these photos at maximum (12x) zoom. Still, the moon was SO bright that I was able to take them with a relatively fast shutter speed.

full moon 2

They didn’t come out too bad; although they aren’t very interesting – there was nothing near the moon for a background or foreground or whatever.

full moon 3

Still, I’m pleased with the way they came out.

full moon (no zoom) This last one is a shot of the moon without any zoom. It’s really amazing how small the moon is – or, to put it another way, how large it seems to our easily-tricked eyes!

I spent some time the other day with my telescope and the half-moon, but didn’t get any photos – although the view was spectacular. Once I figure out how to use my camera with the scope, perhaps I’ll have something I can share here. Until then, this is the best I can give!

By Keith Survell

Geek, professional programmer, amateur photographer, crazy rabbit guy, only slightly obsessed with cute things.

2 comments

  1. Nice shots! The moon was the closest it’s been to earth in some time. Personally I didn’t even bother to go and look for it as I have no luck with that sort of thing. If there’s an eclipse, or a lunar eclipse, or a meteor shower predicted it’s always cloudy where I am! And guess what, it was cloudy the other night when the moon was at its peak!

    My father’s got some fancy attachment for his telescope so he can take photos with his digital camera and it works really well.

  2. Thanks! I didn’t know that (about the moon being at it’s perigee). I have the same problem with the weather, except it changes so fast sometimes that you just need a little patience – if it’s cloudy at 8pm, wait ’till 11pm and it’ll probably be clear!

    I hope to get a similar attachment for my telescope someday for taking photos. I know it’s geeky of me, but it just sounds like fun!

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