Breaking Into Astrophotography - How To Photograph The Moon

Astrophotography has become a real trend in the world of photography in recent years. As more and more people learn just how relatively easy it is, we are seeing some tremendous and fascinating photographs of the night sky being created. Even though the process is relatively easy, many photographers out there are still a bit hesitant to give it a try simply because they do not understand how to get started. We are going to take a look at how to break into this fascinating form of photography in a multi-part series called Breaking into Astrophotography. First up we will look at how to photograph the moon.

Forty Nine years ago this month (July, 1969) man first set foot upon the moon. What an adventure it was and I was fortunate enough to have been part of the generation who witnessed the birth, development, and ultimate success of America's manned space program. Every time I see the moon hovering high in the night sky, every time I watch a full moon rise slowly above the horizon, and on those summer evenings when I sit on my front porch in a rocking chair and stare at the brightness that is our moon, I am reminded of those events. Although dormant and secured away as memories, the excitement of those events still resides within me. Photographing our nearest celestial neighbor is always a fun adventure in itself. Doing so is actually quite easy, but there are some things you need to be aware of before you start.

Equipment you need:  First of all you will need two pieces of equipment; A study tripod and your camera/lens combination. The type of camera really does not matter so much, but your lens selection does. You will need to use some kind of telephoto lens. The longer the focal length the better something in the neighborhood of 400mm to 600mm will work best, however, you can use a 300mm and even a 200mm in a pinch. A basic 70 - 300 standard zoom lens works quite well. Another useful piece of equipment is a remote cable release.

Setup:  Actually there is no single way to photograph the moon, but there are some things to consider to make the process more rewarding. I usually will photograph the moon using Aperture Priority mode. The settings I select will vary, but basically I begin with ISO 100 and an f/stop of f/8. The light coming off the moon is actually reflected daylight so my White Balance is set to either Daylight or Auto, both seem to work equally well. I also will set the camera on Spot Focus using the center point within the viewfinder as the focus point. I will also set the camera metering mode to Spot Metering, again using the center point to meter from. This is important because if you use Matrix mode, the Moon being surrounded by a black sky will be over exposed because the black sky will skew the camera's meter reading into thinking it needs to alter the exposure to compensate for the dark area.

Taking the Shot:  Once you have your camera setting adjusted, it is simply a matter of pointing your camera at the moon making sure you place the center Spot Focus point and Spot Metering point squarely on the moon. Using a cable release, you depress the button halfway and hold to allow the camera to focus and set the exposure, then pause for a couple of seconds to allow any vibrations that might have been generated by the movement of the focus mechanism to dampen. Then press and release the shutter.

Post Processing:  Even with a 500 or 600 mm lens, the moon will still be rather small on the photo. During post processing, you can apply some creative cropping to enlarge its relative size and make it easier to see the various features you have captured. A 24 megapixel camera will have more than enough captured data to allow for some substantial cropping/enlarging. Simple adjustments to contrast, brightness, color and sharpness are that are required after that.

Best Time to Photograph the Moon:  Contrary to popular belief the best time to photograph the moon is not necessarily during a full moon. The best times are during one of the pre-full moon phases when there are more shadows which will make the craters and mountain ranges stand out more readily in relief. A 1/4 moon, or 1/2 thru 3/4 moon phase will offer a great deal more detail to see than a full moon. Now, photographing a full moon is still a great opportunity, but the best time to capture one is right after it rises above the eastern horizon, which is just after sundown. Doing so will allow you capture the moon in a more reddish or orange light. This is because the light reflecting off the moon must travel through a thicker part of the atmosphere and by doing so the light is shifted toward a red tint.

What to Look For:  Just photographing the moon although a fun activity, actually looking for and identifying specific features and areas on its surface adds a great deal to the enjoyment of the capture. Take notice of how many of the craters have a central peak and around their perimeters you will see high mountain ranges. Also take notice of the Maria, the dark areas of the moon and how they interact with the ridges and ranges. some craters will have bright rays spreading out in some cases for thousands of miles. With some creative cropping, you might even be able to see a single tall stand alone mountain casting a long shadow. If you are a math whiz, you might even be able to calculate the heights of those mountains.

Taking it to the Next Level:  The basic techniques of capturing photo's of the moon can be used by any photographer at almost any level. Once you grasp the basics, think about adding something in your foreground, or making double exposures.

There is little that stands in your way when it comes to creating exciting and interesting compositions involving the moon...just use your imagination and creative instincts.

Photographing the moon is an easy and rewarding way to break into Astro Photography. It is an activity requiring basic photographic equipment and you can start right in your own backyard. Give it a try sometime.

Where Are the Men of Vision?

I am one of a generation who was privileged to have witnessed possibly the most fantastic journey ever attempted by mankind, for I grew up during the golden age of man's conquest of space. It was an adventure filled with drama and danger, yet a journey also filled with wonder and awe. It was an effort initiated by men of vision, built by men of vision, and accomplished by men of vision, a vision where an element of significant history was created through the courage of those responsible.

From The Earth to the Moon is an HBO miniseries produced by Tom Hanks some twenty years ago now. The past two days I revisited those twelve episodes and was at once transported back to the days of my youth and was reminded again of just how amazing an adventure it truly was. Had it not been for that grand adventure, the days of my youth would have been mundane and insignificant. Because of it, they were consumed with the excited dreams and revelations of wonders fulfilled.

As the 49th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon comes and goes, most of us have probably forgotten the excitement of the first landing and the possibilities it represented. I sometimes wonder what adventures the youth of today have to cling to. Seems to me, there are few if any and the ones that are fall short of the grand nature of the Apollo Space Program.

America needs another such grand adventure to stir the imagination of the country. Such a thing would once again demand men of vision. We need to once again come together as one and work toward something that will benefit all of mankind, rekindled that sense of wonder, and open up new possibilities. Unfortunately, men of vision in this country are in short supply and often drowned under the weight of forced ideology of which there is an over abundance.

Politicians destroyed the heart of the space program way back when and it has never been the same. They did not destroy it so much thru a lack of funding, what was worse, they destroyed the very dream that elevated the concept of what it stood for through a lack of vision. They did this thru an agenda of ideological perception - where the misguided "my ideology is better than yours syndrome" prevails and serves only to stifle and if possible to destroy the other side of the political isle. Under such leadership, or lack of it more accurately, we as a nation have floundered toward mediocrity. No single leader, no single president, is the cause, but many in public office have contributed to this symptom, and we as citizens have allowed it to fester.

We as a nation need men of vision again, not more ideology. We need men ready to stand firm on truth in the face of negative opposition. We need men who want to elevate, not constantly oppose and deflate. We need our nation to quit pointing fingers to find fault, and ask again what can I do to be part of a solution and to no longer be part of the problem. We need men of courage who are not afraid to look inward to recognize and accept their own failures, then step forward ready to contribute to a grand cause. And most of all, we need a Grand Cause, something to once again employ the best this country has to offer. We need a Grand Adventure driven by men of vision.

A Telescope, A Young Boy's Imagination, Lasting Impressions

My fascination with the night sky began many years ago when I was a young lad growing up in Southeastern Oklahoma. The night skies in that area back then, and even still today, were dark and clear with low levels of light pollution interfering with your ability to clearly see the thousands of stars. I often would spend hours after dark standing out in the small field next to my grandparents home and gaze towards the sky. A highlight would be if a meteor streaked by or on occasion I could  catch a glimpse of a satellite speeding high over head appearing to be a very dim and small point of light. I knew a few of the constellations, but not many and understood that some of the points of light I saw were planets. About the only ones I could identify for sure was Venus which most often hovered low in the western sky and was very bright along with Jupiter. I must have been somewhere around 14 years old when my parents bought for me a simple and inexpensive telescope. That simple devise opened up a whole new universe and offered me a chance to capture a first glance at the wonders of the moon and a few of the planets.

A Similar Version of my telescope (Internet Photo)

The telescope was a simple reflecting model, also known as a Newtonian, the kind with a concave mirror in the bottom where light entering the top would bounce back towards another smaller mirror near the front that angled the light thru an eyepiece attached to the side. It was a low power beginners model with a small 3 inch mirror which did not have much light gathering or resolving power. Even so, it offered great views of the moon and as I was to discover interesting views of some of the planets.

At my first views of the moon, I was astonished at what I saw. Even though I had many times before seen photos of the moon in science books, for the first time I was able to see it live for myself. And those views were incredible. Craters and mountain ranges and dark Maria (seas) became at once real and immediate. Each night its appearance changed as the moon's orbit caused its terminator shadow to wax and wane. I could not get enough of it, but one evening I turned my small little telescope toward a glowing spot in the sky. Its appearance was different than the stars, a softer tone with a slight yellow color. It hovered rather high in the sky almost calling out to me to have a look.

Keith Bridgman Photo 

It took some time to eventually locate the small glowing speck and when I finally brought the light into focus I realized I was for the first time seeing the ringed planet Saturn. It floated inside my view against a solid black background like it was magically suspended on an invisible string, a small image but unmistakably a real live planet...with a tilted golden ring circling it.

Internet Photo - A slightly larger view of what I saw

 I sat outside long past when I should have retired inside, watching it quiver thru the unstable atmosphere. From that moment on, Saturn became my favorite planet and that little telescope became my favorite possession.

Eventually, I also pointed it toward what I knew to be Jupiter, the largest planet, and in spite of the poor optics I was able to see several of Jupiter's moons as pin points of light extending to either side. Most exciting though was when I first noticed the faint band of clouds that circled the planet. There was no color to any of it, just gray and white and most of the gray was barely discernible.

Internet Photo

Over time I found Mars, the red planet. and on a clear night I could just make out one of its polar ice caps as a white smudge on one end of the small reddish orb. Of course back then I didn't even think about taking photographs of what I saw, but I did at times make crude drawings. It was quite an exciting adventure for it was during that time America's manned space program was just getting off the ground and that little telescope made a young lad feel, however small it might have been, as though he were part of that grand adventure.

Mars similar to what I viewed - Internet Photo

Today, I will from time to time spend a couple hours out on a dark clear evening and point my camera skyward to capture the wonders of the Milky Way.

Keith Bridgman photo

When I do, I am often taken back to those early years and that simple little telescope that helped to open up the imagination of a young boy. There were few things my parents ever purchased for me that generated a lasting impact; one was that simple astronomical devise. A lifetime of memories were generated as I viewed the heavens, the kind of memories that only can be imprinted into a young boy's imagination and dreams.