1/29/18 PHOTOGRAPHING THE LUNAR ECLIPSE NICK SINNOTT CHICAGO PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES PREPARATION TIMING AND FINDING LOCATION https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/ - Dates of Lunar Phases 1
PREPARATION TIMING AND FINDING LOCATION http://photoephemeris.com - Favorite for me 2
PREPARATION TIMING AND FINDING LOCATION http://photoephemeris.com - Favorite for me App PhotoPills 3
EQUIPMENT CAMERA BODIES Point & Shoot Cameras are not suggested, but can be used for certain situations Any recent (2012 & Recent) DSLR or Mirrorless body will be able to produce good results. Preferred Bodies Sensors that have a lower noise at higher ISO values Normal working range for ISO will be 200-1600. Know your cameras buttons by touch!! EQUIPMENT LENSES Wide angle to Normal Lenses (35mm 70mm) Great for showing the scene Will not get details of the moon Photograph People watching or photographing the moon. Telephoto Lens (70-200mm) Good for capturing foreground objects while getting detail of the moon 4
EQUIPMENT LENSES Super Telephoto Lens (150mm 600mm) Great for capturing the details of the moon With longer focal lengths (300mm 600mm), it is difficult to capture a foreground element with the moon. Tele-Converters (1.4x, 2x) Multiplies the focal length of the lens 1.4x you will lose 1 stop of light (An f/2.8 lens will now be f/4) 2x you will lose 2 stops of light (An f/2.8 lens will now be an f/5.6) EQUIPMENT OTHER ITEMS Sturdy Tripod (REQUIRED) How to correctly set up a tripod Image Stabilization is turned OFF Remote release or self timer you don t want to touch the camera as the shutter is released. Intervalometer for Time-lapse photography Hand warmers (prevents frost and dew on lens) Rubber bands to attach the hand warmers No filters! 5
Photographing a Full (or Nearly Full) Moon CAMERA SETTINGS FULL MOON SETTINGS Manual Mode (Preferred) or Aperture Priority Center Focus Point - Auto Focus Shutter speed Minimum of 1/125 Preferred 1/250 to 1/500 Aperture f/8 f/11 ISO 200 800 (increase if correct shutter speed for exposure falls below 1/125) 6
CAMERA SETTINGS FULL MOON TIPS As the moon is rising or at moonset, due to atmospheric distortion, the moon will appear larger. If you want more detail in the moon, photograph it when it is high in the sky. Least amount of atmospheric distortion. If you want the MOST detail of the craters of the moon, photograph 1-2 days before or after Full Moon. Moon will still appear full but shadows in the craters will be deeper and darker. Full Moon 1/125 f/8 ISO 100 7
1/29/18 Full Moon -1 Day 1/500 f/5 ISO 200 Photographing a Lunar Eclipse 8
CAMERA SETTINGS LUNAR ECLIPSE SETTINGS SHUTTER SPEED Manual Mode (Preferred) or Aperture Priority When the moon is full and bright, use auto-focus on the bright portion and lock the focus. Shutter speed Varys by 8-stops between the bright side and the dark side Bright side of the moon 1/125 Dark side of the moon 1 This is when longer focal lengths become difficult. The longer the lens, the faster the moon is going to move across the frame. CAMERA SETTINGS ECLIPSE FOCAL LENGTH SHUTTER SPEED FACTOR To avoid the moon being blurry in the photograph, follow the minimum shutter speeds. 10mm 35mm: 35mm 50mm: 70mm 200mm: 200mm 300mm: 300mm 600mm: Greater than a 10 shutter speed Greater than a 5 shutter speed Greater than a 2 shutter speed Greater than a ½ shutter speed Greater than a 1/15 shutter speed Adjust the ISO, NOT Aperture to achieve the minimum shutter speeds. 9
CAMERA SETTINGS LUNAR ECLIPSE SETTINGS - APERTURE Lenses tend to be softer wide open and closed. Normally to achieve the sharpest image, set the aperture to between f/8 and f/11. CAMERA SETTINGS STEPS FOR EXPOSURE SETTINGS 1. Set Camera to Manual Mode 2. Image Quality should be RAW 3. Set desired aperture (Between f/8 f/11) 4. Set Shutter Speed based on the focal length of the lens and stage of moon eclipse 5. Begin at ISO of 100 and increase until achieve a good exposure 10
CAMERA SETTINGS OTHER Long Exposure Noise Reduction Turn Off High ISO Noise Reduction (only applies to jpegs) Turn Off No Filters CAMERA SETTINGS FOCUS METHODS Method #1: Focus on the Moon when lit by the sun Turn off auto focus Use Gaffer Tape to hold your focus ring If you change focal lengths, you will have to re-focus 11
CAMERA SETTINGS FOCUS METHODS Method #2: Using Live View when moon is in shadow (Eclipsed) Find the moon and place in center of frame Turn off auto focus In Live View use Magnify as much as will allow on the center Manually adjust focus ring to bring the moon into focus Apply gaffer tape to focus ring If you change focal length, you will need to re-focus COMPOSITION FOREGROUND ELEMENTS Make sure to find an interesting foreground element. Horizon or element should be at the bottom of the frame. Exif: 200mm, f/5.6, 1, ISO 1000 12
1/29/18 COMPOSITION SILHOUETTE OF TREES 100mm, f/5.6, 1, ISO 1000 COMPOSITION OTHER OBJECTS 400mm, f/8, 1, ISO 4000 13
1/29/18 24mm, f/1.4, 1, ISO 400 200mm, f/5.6, 1/2, ISO 250 14
500mm, f/10, 1/15, ISO 1250 COMPOSITION FOREGROUND ELEMENTS May need to exposure bracket photos in order to get foreground elements exposed. f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/400, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/200, ISO 800 15
1/29/18 COMPOSITION FOREGROUND ELEMENTS May need to exposure bracket photos in order to get foreground elements exposed. f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/50, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/25, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/10, ISO 800 COMPOSITION FOREGROUND ELEMENTS May need to exposure bracket photos in order to get foreground elements exposed. f/5.6, 1/5, ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/2, ISO 800 16
COMPOSITION FOREGROUND ELEMENTS.and then exposure blend the images together 17
And always remember to turn around from time to time! Thank you! Next Session Begins March 11 th www.chicagophotoclasses.com 18