Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/13

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Dec 22 FULL MOON SHOOT!
From: John Collier <jbcollier@home.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 07:28:08 -0700

Well if you think about it, it is always a sunny day on the moon! The sunny
day rule will produce a technically accurate image of the moon but not a
particularly psychologically accurate image. We think of the moon as white
or silvery because as it is lit by the sun, it is so much brighter than the
surrounding moon lit landscape. The moon is so dazzlingly bright, it also
assumes an importance psychologically all out of proportion to its actual
size. I am sure we all have had those disappointing shots where the moon is
this tiny dot, not the large looming sphere we remembered, When the moon
appears in the daytime sky it appears quite small and gray. The other fact
to remember is that the moon is moving at a pretty fair clip. You would not
believe how many 100 000 of miles a day this puppy travels! A sharp picture
of the moon requires about 1/60 of a second or faster. Shutter times longer
than that will produce blur. Now what should we do with all this info? If
you want a large moon, use a long lens and switch the brain off of automatic
so that you can judge how large the moon is actually going to appear in the
frame. Remember the sunny day rule, but open up a stop or two to produce
white with detail, or three or four to get bright white with no detail. If
you do not mind detail loss exposures up to 1/2 of a second or so will still
look fairly round. If you want to balance the surrounding landscape with the
moon then shoot at sunset/moonrise or double expose the moon to the place
and size you would like. Now I have to get my poor son dressed! Good luck
and I hope its a clear evening/night

Mr. Smith wrote:
> Does anyone have any recommendations for exposure using ISO 125 film?