Nice Moon tonight

[fivemack]

Moon pictures really do benefit from using the telescope:

Focussing is a real pain with the very long lens: auto-focus doesn't get it right. On the other hand you don't have to worry about shortage of light; on the third hand I didn't manage to get an acceptable earthshine photo this time round. Hey ho, you get a fresh new crescent moon every month ...

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Nope, no shortage of light, that's certainly true! It is, after all, an object illuminated by direct sunlight.

Old photographers like me remember the rule-of-thumb for exposing film: 1/ASA at f/16 for an object in direct sunlight (equally valid for digital, but it's so easy to just shoot test shots and check them that it's less useful in practice). I was quite croggled when it was first pointed out to me that this applied to the moon (as accurately as rules of thumb can be expected to).