The picture that you CAN'T take...

r3t1awr3yd

Anyone here ever struggle with an idea or concept that they tried to capture but no matter how many times you try, it seems to not work?

Eg: I can't shoot the moon to save my life. I'm not sure why I can't get it right but I've tried no less than two dozen times to capture the moon in all it's glory.

I see a million other people get it with no issue. Yeah, I know to follow the sunny 16 rule. Yes, I know you can use a black card before and after shutter release to rid the shot of vibration. Sure, I know a BUNCH of nifty tricks to get it right but I still can't make it happen lol. (YET!!)

Anyone else have shots like that that elude them? (Just makin' sure i'm not the only frustrated one lol)

ziggy53

For anyone struggling with photographic methods or technique, just show us some examples with full EXIF of what you have tried, or links to the photos with EXIF, along with an explanation of your technique, and we can help you achieve your goal or at least explain what is going on so you can work on the problem(s).

For imaging the moon it is pretty simple with a dSLR:

You need a stable platform in a decent tripod and head. Also use proper technique like eliminate camera shake with a remote release or timer release of the camera. MLU (mirror lock up) and remote release is best of all.

Focus with live view and magnification, if you have it. Otherwise practice during the day with manual focus and record the focus settings using a very distant object, or simply take a lot of test shots and review the results magnified to determine best focus.

You need a very long focal length lens. For a crop camera a 400mm-500mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter is not too much.

Fully manual operation of the dSLR exposure. Pathfinder gives you exposure settings here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1295752&postcount=10

Start with those settings and bracket the exposure if you need to.

Cold dry weather and no wind makes for the best shooting conditions.

r3t1awr3yd

Lol. I've read/know all of that and still I suck. lol. I was just starting this thread to see if others were struggling with specific other things :P

basflt

i understand what you mean
you want it , but it wont work :pissed
doubting , trying , cursing , try again :booze

and when you think you figured it out ,
the " proverbial moon" disappears behind clouds:hung

Art Scott

the moon was never a prob for me....I started shooting it back when we all used film........a few bracketed shots and it was nailed......
now my frustration is fireworks.......I have followed every tute on the net and still to my chagrin no good pix...... :-}}

Foques

i've ran in to that.. but main issue I run into is my own laziness

Though, truth be told, all my "confusions" were usually address in a swing of a magic want by Art... or by the search engine (but more so by Art)

r3t1awr3yd

Art Scott wrote: »

the moon was never a prob for me....I started shooting it back when we all used film........a few bracketed shots and it was nailed......
now my frustration is fireworks.......I have followed every tute on the net and still to my chagrin no good pix...... :-}}

Chalk fireworks up with the moon and lightening for things that are a pain for me to shoot. lol.

BradfordBenn

My biggest problem is that I can see one thing in my mind's eye but I can't get it onto the sensor/into the capture. So I can take the image but it still never looks as good as I think it should. So I feel your pain.