Canon 100-400 mm 4.5 - 5.6, May 5th Moon

[westr70]

1/500th second.

[scottkinfw]

Very nice shot indeed!  I really love that you can see the stars around the moon.

Sadly, I had an overcast night tonight.

sek

1/500th second.

[westr70]

Very nice shot indeed!  I really love that you can see the stars around the moon.

Sadly, I had an overcast night tonight.

sek

1/500th second.

There always tomorrow and you certainly have the camera and lens for it.

[dturano]

Thanks for the share, I was Hopi g for a view but clouds never moved out over me in ny tonight.

[Forceflow]

Great shot, I am curious about the stars however. Did you really manage to capture them like that on the photo or did you add them in post?

This is my attempt at a moon shot two days earlier:

[westr70]

@ Forceflow: I used clarity in LR4 and then brightened the stars in PS.  I was trying to bring out the ray pattern from the lower right impact crater (Tycho) which you so nicely captured in your shot with clarity (LR4). 

[RAKAMRAK]

Great shot, I am curious about the stars however. Did you really manage to capture them like that on the photo or did you add them in post?

This is my attempt at a moon shot two days earlier:

@Forcetlow: Could you please tell which you used for this picture (I am guessing you used canon 7D as the camera)? It is so clear!! Fantastic capture.

[Forceflow]

Thank you

I used my 7D in combination with the Canon 100-400 L and my Sigma 2x extender. Originally I did not even want to buy that extender again, but since I saw a used one in a store for a real bargain I thought what the heck. (Especially since it was the same price as the cash back I'll get from Canon for my 100-400)
I would not have thought it would be possible to get this much detail out of the two, but apparently you can. It is pretty difficult to work with however. At 800mm the moon moves very fast through the VF and AF is of course not functional at f/11. Even though I have a pretty sturdy tripod was I really glad to have IS in the 100-400 else MF would have been next to impossible as well. I had to resort to using Live View with maximum magnification to get the best focus, but at that setting the image will really shake immensely even from just touching the lens. It was quite a pain, but from the result I would say it was also worth it.

The Image has been cropped to 2778x1852 and then resized to 1920x1280, so be sure to enjoy the full view of it.

[westr70]

@forceflow: What shutter speed did you take it at? It is a beautiful shot.

[Forceflow]

@forceflow: What shutter speed did you take it at? It is a beautiful shot.

I have to look that one up once I am back home. Due to some bad layering in PS exif data is not correct. I think it was taken somewhere between 1/100 and 1/200 I think. But I'll check it later tonight!

[serendipidy]

@Forceflow:Wow,what a beautiful and sharp moon photo.I am a guy retiring soon and plan to take up photography as my main pursuit. I got a 7D last year and a 100-400L 3 months ago since I'm interested in birds and wildlife photos. When I read about 5 May supermoon, I tried to shoot it and it looks alright but not anything close to your gorgeous photo. I am learning pp (in DPP) but haven't used PS or LR yet, but will eventually when I learn how. Could you tell me what your camera settings were and how do you use pp to enhance a moon shoot. I don't know how to tell if my 100-400 is a good copy or not or if (as I suspect) any blurred out of focus shots are a result of my novice level. Also, I shot handheld and need to buy a good tripod. What tripod did you use? Thanks for posting that photo. I've been reading this forum for several weeks and joined today because of that photo. I'll try to attach my best shoot. 7D, 100-400L, handheld (braced against my car hood), jpeg,pp using DPP to sharpen and adjust contrast.

[Forceflow]

@serendipidy: Thanks for the praise I am really glad how this one turned out myself, would not have thought I could get one that sharp. I do have to say that I really like your shot as well, especially considering it was your first attempt and even handheld! Great work!
Do keep in mind however that I have taken that shot using my 2x converter together with the 100-400. So my camera settings might not be too useful for you. (And of course you wont be able to achieve the same level magnification)

Turns out the image I used was actually one of the really slow ones. It was indeed taken at 1/15s with an aperture of f/18. The camera was set to ISO 100. Camera RAW settings (PS 6 demo version) were as followed:
Basic
Exposure -0.5
Clarity +30
Tone Curve
Lights -20
Darks -20
Shadows -30
Detail
Luminance 30
Lens Corrections
Set the right lens and checked Remove Chromatic Aberrations also set Defringe to All Edges

All other Values were the default ones. All I ended up doing in Photoshop itself was to crop and resize the image. The tripod I used is the MANFRETTO 550XPROB with a 804RC2 head. It's on the heavy side, but really sturdy and quite affordable. Hope this helps!

[serendipidy]

@Forceflow: Thanks for the info. Next step is for me to get a good tripod and ballhead and I've also been thinking about a Canon 1.4 extender. I think I'm starting to get the addiction

[Drizzt321]

I think I'm starting to get the addiction

At least you'll get something longer lasting and more meaningful than most other addictions   Plus you can sometimes convince people to pay you to do what you're addicted to!

[K-amps]

Great Shot John!

A couple of days earlier. Tried the 100-400 with 2x iii but I could not get it to focus well handheld... so I took the 2x off and shot straight AF from the 100-400. And went wild on PP sharpening. Next time I hope I have a tripod on me...


ISO = 160
F/5.6
400mm
1/400th
5D iii