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How to Photograph the Supermoon: NASA Pro Shares His Tips
space.com ^ | 11/12/2016 | Elizabeth Howell

Posted on 11/12/2016 11:40:22 AM PST by BenLurkin

2. Scout the location carefully

Use every tool possible to get the perfect shot, including Google Maps and compasses, to help you locate a spot where you'll be able to see the moon as well as the reference object you want to include. That may mean learning how to read a map, and finding out where the moon will appear on the horizon based on your location. If possible, travel to an area far from city lights to avoid light pollution. And make sure to be precise; Ingalls said he recalls setting up near Washington, D.C.'s Iwo Jima monument hundreds of yards away from a horde of photographers. "I thought my calculations were wrong, but sure enough, the moon popped up right where I expected, and then came the stampede," he said

5. Use advanced DSLR techniques

Another thing to remember is that daylight white balance is the best setting to capture the moonlight, according to Ingalls. After all, the moon is reflecting the sun's light. If you're planning to use a longer lens, "Keep in mind that the moon is a moving object. It's a balancing act between trying to get the right exposure and realizing that the shutter speed typically needs to be a lot faster,"

6. Use your smartphone

If you don't have an SLR camera on hand, Ingalls said you can still get some fun panoramic shots on a smartphone. (He joked that as a professional photographer, he would personally find the experience "maddening and frustrating," though.) He suggested going to an urban area with a lighted foreground. Once you're there, "Tap the screen, and hold your finger on the object (in this case, the moon) to lock the focus," he said. "Then, slide your finger up or down to darken or lighten the exposure."

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Astronomy
KEYWORDS: supermoon
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1 posted on 11/12/2016 11:40:22 AM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Buy a zoom lens next week and then take a picture of December’s not quite supermoon. No one will know the difference.


2 posted on 11/12/2016 11:47:16 AM PST by KarlInOhio (" T'was the witch of November come stealin' " And who could the stealing Witch of November be? Hmm?)
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To: BenLurkin

Going to the beach, but there’s a probability of overcast.


3 posted on 11/12/2016 11:48:01 AM PST by Purdue77 (The Good Guys Win!)
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To: BenLurkin

I’m naming it the Yuuuge Moon. Should be perfect conditions in vegas.


4 posted on 11/12/2016 11:49:52 AM PST by scottinoc
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To: BenLurkin

Scout out your location the night before & take practice shots.
Use a good tripod.


5 posted on 11/12/2016 11:55:16 AM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: BenLurkin

Pretty weak advice. Here are mine
Tripod
Highest ISO possible, I go upto 6400
PhotoPills, I phone app


6 posted on 11/12/2016 11:56:26 AM PST by Psycho_Runner (I never voted for change, I prefer folding money.)
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To: BenLurkin

Looney f/11 rule: ISO 100, Exposure 1/100 second, f/11

Vary as necessary, e.g, ISO 200, depending on circumstances. On auto exposure, the moon tends to get washed out, saturates, because it only occupies a small number of the cells and the camera will generally average over the field of view.

Use a tripod.

Use delayed aperture to allow the camera to settle. Use “mirror up” if you have it.

Use optical zoom.

With an APS-C camera (most common interchangeable lens camera chip format) your horizontal (narrower) field of view will be be about equal to the diameter of the moon at 1900 mm focal length and scales proportionately from there. At 200 mm FL, the diameter of image of the moon will be about one-tenth the shorter dimension, at 50mm, one twentieth. Half these numbers with a full-frame camera.

If you use a phone camera, I would recommend max zoom and hoping for the best.


7 posted on 11/12/2016 11:58:11 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party supports full civil rights for Necro-Americans!)
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To: Psycho_Runner

The surface of moon is blazingly bright, almost as bright as sand on a sunny beach, especially a full moon. Albedo varies but is highest during a full moon. (Because of shadowing at other phases.)

If you want to take a picture of the moon that does not appear to be a flat white disk, follow the looney f/11 rule. (I have a lot of experience doing this.) If you want to take a picture by moon light, you might try higher ISO, but if the moon is in the frame, it will appear to be washed out.


8 posted on 11/12/2016 12:01:46 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party supports full civil rights for Necro-Americans!)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Makes sense.


9 posted on 11/12/2016 12:13:18 PM PST by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (Go Egypt on 0bama)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

f/11 @125th is my starting spot


10 posted on 11/12/2016 12:15:04 PM PST by GRRRRR (He'll NEVER be my President, FUBO! Treason is the Reason! Impeach the Kenyan)
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To: scottinoc

To bad it’s Monday, it would probably be a perfect shot to get it with the Mt Lewis FAA radar up in the Shoshone range.

It always looks like it snowed on the mountain tops when a really bright full moon rises up there at night. There is a slickensided rock on the side of the canyon on my place there that glows ethereally in moonlight, a friend and his wife got freaked out by it and went and got a hotel until I got out there the next day when we were meeting out there for camping. It looks like a piece of chrome or a mirror is discarded there when it’s hit right in the daylight.


11 posted on 11/12/2016 12:15:42 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Looks like a super clear sky here in Colorado Springs.

I have a Nikon D5500 which is of course the compact frame, and 55-300 mm kit lens I was thinking of using.

For some reason I wasn’t sure if it went down to F11 but it does.

I have it on manual and will let you know how it turns out.


12 posted on 11/12/2016 12:29:37 PM PST by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (Go Egypt on 0bama)
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To: BenLurkin

Another Super Moon?

We never had them when I was a kid.

What’s up with that?


13 posted on 11/12/2016 1:07:02 PM PST by hadaclueonce (This time I am Deplorable)
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To: hadaclueonce

heh heh

Back when they were called ‘perigee-syzygy moons’, no one but science geeks noticed.

Closest moon since 1948, FWIW.


14 posted on 11/12/2016 1:11:53 PM PST by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: hadaclueonce

Human carbon emissions have caused the moon to bloat.


15 posted on 11/12/2016 1:14:48 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: KarlInOhio
No one will know the difference.

True. The whole "supermoon" meme is lame, but if stimulates interest in astronomy or photography or astrophotography, it's good.

16 posted on 11/12/2016 1:14:52 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party supports full civil rights for Necro-Americans!)
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To: jjotto

Closest moon, or closest full moon?


17 posted on 11/12/2016 1:15:59 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party supports full civil rights for Necro-Americans!)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/a-special-supermoon-comes-but-what-causes-it/


18 posted on 11/12/2016 1:20:34 PM PST by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Psycho_Runner

At 6400 you are going to have a grainy picture.

You will do just as well much lower. The moon is actually quite bright.


19 posted on 11/12/2016 1:29:06 PM PST by Vermont Lt (Brace. Brace. Brace. Heads down. Do not look up.)
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To: jjotto

Didn’t seem to directly answer the question. A so-called “supermoon” is when perigee and full moon occur close to the same time. My question was whether this is the closest the moon will be since 1948, the closest it has been to earth at perigee since 1948.

In 1948 these circumstances obtained:

Perigee: Jan 26 11:17 356462 km
Full: Jan 26 7:12

In 2016:

Perigee: Nov 14 11:24 356511 km
Full: Nov 14 13:54


20 posted on 11/12/2016 1:45:40 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party supports full civil rights for Necro-Americans!)
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