The Pro tip for shooting the moon that nobody tells you

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

Find out how you can take great moon shots where you see every detail of the lunar surface with just one easy step.

[@StreakyP]

many now don't remember the "sunny 16 rule" with old film...& ZERO lightmeter... if you are ISO100 set 1/125s & just go f/16 if it is sunny.. f/8 for overcast or f/22 for sand/snow/desert. The moon is a sunny desert.... the best metering is always done incident at the model so think of standing on the moon next to Neil Armstrong with a Weston 5 & invercone & it would just tell you f/22 with the above. It is so funny to think that what was printed on a cardboard film box 50 years ago is more accurate than a multi-£1000 pound camera without delving 56 levels into its menus.

[@StreakyP]

I forgot to mention, fast moving firework tracks can be too fast to meter live on some systems so they are another one to "nail in" some manual settings before shooting, plus I had a video camera that REALLY didn't like focusing with fireworks. Some auto focus work on look at a dot, increment the focus a smidge one way, if the dot gets smaller the focus is getting better, if the dot gets larger then focus the other way...... the problem with exploding fireworks is what starts as a dot of light expands by itself..... my auto-focus just threw in the towel & totally blurred everything with fireworks. Another case of "go manual" & just set infinity focus (or better go for hyperfocal distance if you know your f/no...... now there is an explanation video possibility for you)

[@jpsmantunes]

Thank you, I just shoot my best moon shot with this tip!

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

That's great news! I'm glad I could be of assistance 😊

[@grahamstretch6863]

You have 10,000 views on this your second most popular video, 870 subscribers 27 comments, you are a small channel and you are doing your best to turn people away, 4 of your 8 responses are very defensive! I don’t think you have the following to afford to be like that, you might want to take comments less personally and try to make your counter point more constructively, you’ll either take this defensively or as the constructive criticism its intended to be! 🤷‍♂️ At least you’ve posted some videos and are not still procrastinating about it like me! 😬

[@zygmuntziokowski7877]

Thanks Rich for the tips.

[@n5sdm]

How about this, fastest shutter, about f5.6 to minimise atmospheric disturbance, with a lower iso that can be use to pull off the shot. Manual mode = learn to use your camera. Yes its scary that there is no moon button. Fast shutter = minimised atmospheric movement and moon movement. F5.6 ish, = less blur from atmosphere Low iso = low noise, greater dynamic range. Play with setting and get what you want. Then lightroom. Its not that hard. Contact a photographer. Ask for on site help, make dinner, meet new people, get insulted for only shooting jpeg and never leaving auto.

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

@@n5sdm so your advice is “play with settings”? Good one. That’s very repeatable isn’t it?

[@edwardhammond5582]

This was useful - I'd not changed my metering mode in so long I had to look it up. A really helpful reminder. Thank you.

[@r2drone227]

Your information is good for many photographers. But I wonder how many people never get to see it because of the 22 second intro! It takes forever!

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

22 seconds is not forever. Tell me then what you think is the ideal length of intro branding

[@grahamstretch6863]

@@edinburghphotographyworkshop About 2 seconds, we don’t come to watch your branding, we come because a recommended video looks interesting to us. If we like it we’ll be back for more, if we watch a few and like them we’ll subscribe and the branding is irrelevant as you’ve already hooked us. Don’t even mention the 45 second outro! 😮 Personally I skip intros on most videos especially if they have football chant background noise like yours! I suppose that as the skip function is 10 seconds if you did 7 seconds and then got straight into the subject we’d have to watch the intro or risk missing something important to the video! 🤷‍♂️

[@n5sdm]

​@edinburghphotographyworkshop 2 to 5 seconds. Unless you are a narcissist , then 22 seconds. Then talk about things other than your subject. Or say the settings, and why, then back it up with facts or reasons. Add exceptions and thank people for watching. I swear you tubers are getting like food recipe sites. Give me the ingredients and instructions. I do not need to read about how your day went and the history of how you got aunt Edna to pass you her secret for hiding the shit in ther brownies.

[@graemebrumfitt6668]

As soon as you showed the picture I was like YEP! TFS, GB :)

[@andrewdewar8159]

Hi, a guy on youtube said set your camera to f/11 anf put the shutter speed and iso the same, like 1/200 s for iso 200. (If I remember correctly) . Have you heard of this ?

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

Yes, if you read all the comments, you will see that many guys are using a version of the Sunny 16 rule. The difference between spot metering and the Sunny 16 is spot metering is more accurate and extremely easy to use. Canon users can just press the Q button and navigate to metering modes and they know they'll get the optimal exposure.

[@andrewdewar8159]

@@edinburghphotographyworkshop I might try this, I never ever change my metering mode, sometimes focus area but never metering area , cool video !

[@gavinedmondstone316]

I just use the overexposure warning in the viewfinder; dial in less exposure till the moon looks like the moon and not whatever you get in overexposed areas of the frame.

[@mostlymessingabout]

Thank you ever so much. My friend was pulling her hair out trying to see why her Nikon would just make a blury white mess. Hopefully I'll get decent cloud free skies down south tonight 😂

[@paulbarnett1461]

You are way over-complicating this with talk of metering modes. The moon is a grey object in full sunlight, and is always the same.. Use 'sunny 16'

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

You should record a video that simply explains the Sunny 16 rule to beginners. Don't forget to explain how the ratios change as the aperture value changes. Oh and also remember to take account of the dark sky and how that will affect the metering.

[@paulbarnett1461]

@@edinburghphotographyworkshop There are already many videos on the sunny 16 rule - the world does not need another one. If you are not using metering, the dark sky won't affect it 🙂 Are you objecting to my comment - you sound very defensive. No criticism intended. If so, just ignore it.

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

@@paulbarnett1461 I just think that Sunny 16 isn't as simple as you think. Spot metering is much easier to explain to a beginner than a rule that requires an underlying knowledge of stops to adjust the rule based on differing cloud conditions. If you have 25 years of experience, it may seem simple, but for someone who has just picked up a camera, using the correct metering mode will be much easier to understand and apply.

[@anttihuovilainen1653]

That or just turn down exposure compensation until you can see the details.

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

@@anttihuovilainen1653 Which doesn't work quickly if you are using an older DSLR without a screen that shows you the exposure

[@alvarocoutinho3103]

Always used f/5.6 and speed as close as possible to ISO. That simple (if you wanna break around this will be fine too).

[@henriklauridsen5951]

Like your easy to understand explenation. To complicate things, have you tried to do 2 layers/different exposures, one for the moon and one for the stars, and then a mask?

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

It's not something I have tried, but it should be possible. It would be nice to get a full moon and clear skies at the same time in Edinburgh! 🤣

[@DaddyyCrab]

Also get off auto ISO. High shutter speed helps.

[@fly-pedro]

It works, I got some good results last night. Although I don’t understand why this is a pro tip who nobody tells you, it was told to me time ago by an amateur photographer😇

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

@@fly-pedro maybe they came on one of my workshops 😉

[@richardsmith2289]

I was taught f8 and SS=ISO. It has always worked well.

[@tonyclif1]

So I've just read "f8 plus ISO", "f11 plus ISO", and "f5.6 plus ISO" and I've only read about 10 comments. 😂

[@smiffy5467]

I think this tutorial is over complicated.. Just use the Lunar Eleven rule, f11 and your shutter speed and iso the same number.. If you need to tweak just adjust your shutter speed either way to make to moon brighter or darker.. Simple. 👍

[@edinburghphotographyworkshop]

Your method needs a "tweak either way". Mine gets it right the first time, and it literally requires one menu item to be switched on - it's easy if you try it.

[@SteveM45]

I do the same with Smartphone