A tutorial on shooting the details of the moon

Although many people like to shoot the moon, they can't get the gist of the moon and the photos they take are not ideal. When it comes to shooting the moon, many novices will complain, why is the moon I shot like a pie? No details! Indeed, it takes some skill to photograph the moon. If you are not careful, it will be made into a white cake!

The beauty of taking pictures of the moon lies in taking pictures of veins, craters and shadows on the moon. The moon is called a "ball" because it has a three-dimensional sense.

The first thing to pay attention to when shooting the moon is exposure. If you use the average metering of the camera, most of them will be overexposed. This is because the overall light brightness is not enough, and the metering system increases the exposure. In order to achieve accurate exposure, we can use the following methods:

The first is to set the correct aperture. You can't shoot the moon with the default maximum aperture (F2.8 or F2.0) of many cameras. Generally speaking, an aperture of F5.6 or above should be used. At this point, there is a theory of "sixteen laws of sunshine" that can be used for reference, not only the aperture, but also the shutter. (See note)

The second is to use spot metering to measure the brightest part of the moon. In this way, the correct exposure coefficient can be obtained as much as possible.

Note: "sunshine 16 law" is called Sunny 16 law in English. It is an ancient method to decide what kind of aperture and shutter speed should be chosen when shooting outdoors. According to this law, the shutter speed is set to the nearest reciprocal of the sensitivity used in the film. For example, if ISO200 is used, the shutter is set to 1/250 seconds. As for the aperture, when the scorching sun is in the sky, that is, when you can determine the position of the sun in the sky, use f/ 16, and when the position of the sun is uncertain, use f/1; When the sun is covered by clouds, use f/8; Use f/5.6 when the sky is cloudy or the main body is in shadow. Although this method is primitive, it is very effective and will definitely shoot the scenery. In fact, since ancient times, plastic roll manufacturers have expressed this rule with pictures and printed it on the inner layer of cartons for reference.

"sunshine 16 law" is a set of laws that photographers summarized long ago according to their own experience. As this is only personal experience, there are naturally some inaccuracies or inaccuracies. In fact, many people on the Internet have argued about the correctness of his theory many times. This rule is aimed at traditional cameras. You can learn from this rule when shooting, but you don't have to be too serious.

The third is exposure compensation. When shooting the moon, you usually need to reduce the exposure. Generally, you should reduce 1 or 2, depending on the situation when you shoot. Shoot according to different aperture and EV values, play back immediately, and adjust according to the results before shooting. These are easy to realize in digital cameras, which greatly improves the success rate of shooting.

Secondly, consider the shutter speed. According to the principle of "Sixteen Laws of Sunshine", if the shutter is set at about F5.6, the shutter speed should generally be set at1125 seconds or faster. In addition to preventing overexposure, there is another important reason for using high-speed shutter, that is, the moon, as a celestial body, is constantly moving. If the shutter speed is too slow, it is easy to paste. Nothing is absolute. Some people shoot the moon more clearly with a slower shutter speed. This is all related to the weather at that time and the equipment used. )

Finally, the choice of ISO sensitivity and zoom. Generally speaking, the lowest sensitivity for shooting the moon can be either ISO 50 or ISO 100. Too high ISO will not only cause overexposure, but also make the picture rough.

As for the focal length of the lens, the longer the better. There is a simple reason. The longer the zoom lens, the bigger the moon. However, it should be noted that the longer the focal length, the easier it is to be burned by hand shaking. So it's best to shoot the moon with a tripod.

In order to shoot the moon better, many astronomy enthusiasts DIY many astronomical telescopes and install them on digital cameras, and the photos taken are also very good. However, it should be noted that the use of high-power zoom also has disadvantages, that is, the greater the zoom dispersion, the more serious the situation. Especially the modified cheap high-powered telescope.