Full moon photos

stedo

Hi I'm from the UK and this is my first of hopefully many posts. :)
I have just bought a 1300D (T6), which came with two lenses, the 18-55mm and the 75-300mm.
I'm trying to get some photos of the full moon, but seem to be struggling to get anything really clear. I am using the 75-300mm lens on a tripod in manual mode with remote shutter, and the skies are very clear at the moment. Any ideas of a "best shot"?
Thanks in advance.

bruto

A couple of general ideas on this. First of all, remember that the moon is very bright. If the camera's meter is reading much of the surrounding sky, it is almost sure to blow out the moon. If you spot meter on the moon you might get closer, but you may be surprised at how much you need to underexpose in order to get the moon right. I don't know how Canons work auto ISO, but on Nikons this can defeat manual underexposure, so make sure your camera's meter is not mistakenly overexposing by jacking up the ISO.

Second, it can be hard to focus on the moon, in part because of its brightness, and partly because many recent lenses focus past infinity, so you cannot just crank it to the stop in the dark. You'll get better results focusing a bit too close than a bit too far, so aim for a hill top, a distant light, or something else a few hundred feet away, if you can't get the moon directly.

PBked

Hi @Stedo,
The skies have been very clear recently, even on the edge of London, and that bright pinpoint of light below Venus, I believe.
To add to what @BRUTO has told you, you can use spot metering and aperture priority set to between f/8 and f/16. Use auto ISO and auto white balance.
Something else you can try is the live view ability of your camera. Live view always works best on a tripod and one of its attributes is that it has a focus aid.
Your shots at 300mm will be about 5cms on your screen so you might want to do a little cropping or post processing to enlarge that slightly and adjust other items. Oh, and shoot in RAW.
Good luck,
PBked

stedo

Thanks guys for your replies and advice. I did manage to get some okay shots on the last full moon, but I suppose practice might make perfect one day.
Hopefully the next time we get a full moon we might get clear skies again, so I will give your suggestions a go.
Many thanks.