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2022's Super Moons


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#1
krag96

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All you moon shooters, mark your calendars for this years ''super moons''. 

 

There will be a Super Strawberry Moon on June 14 and a Super Buck Moon on July 13.  Hope for clear sky and scout a good position!

 

Another site lists May 16 and August 12 as super moons also, however they won't be as close as the June and July Super Moons.

 

May 16-225,015 miles

 

June 14-222,238 miles

 

July 13-222,089 miles

 

August 12-224,569 miles



#2
lightcapture

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Wonder how this differs from the Harvest Moon on Sept 10. It is so huge and orange then.



#3
krag96

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I don't know, I believe ''super moons'' change their position and dates every year.  They're best captured either rising or setting, a half hour or so window to capture them. 

 

The moon and stars require some experimenting to get good photos with just a few general rules.  The moon is easier, and if your steady, no tripod needed, just a long focal length lens and a camera, (I use a tripod and shutter release cable).  Prepare to vary things!  Start with some basic settings and work from there, ''generally'', match the ISO and shutter speed sorta close, always expose for the moon itself, spot metering works best, and choose a mid aperture setting and manual focus.  I fire a lot of shots at it on the rise and am changing my camera settings along the way.  It's nearly impossible to get a detailed moon AND any detail on earth in the same shot, they're just too far apart as to the settings for either.  If you capture a backdrop, your moon is going to be just a bright detail-less ball in the sky, capture a good moon and you probably won't have any detail on earth.  You can combine a good moon with a good night shot in post though.

 

Stars, the Milky Way, or other features in the night sky require more planning, (what's visible, and when) along with more and better stuff!   The camera used being the least of your concerns.  In FX, a GOOD fast 14-24mm lens is best, sharp with the least amount of distortion at the edges as possible, (the stars at the edges will look like triangles with a lens with distortion).  A tripod is NEEDED as your exposures will range from around 15 seconds to almost 30.  A remote or cable release unless you want to mess with the camera's delay shutter release.  And lastly, a clear night and place where light polution is minimal.  Use a mid ISO setting and a fast f-stop, focus and try several exposure lengths.  One of the keys here is knowing where in the sky to shoot, a star map is vital for this.  Usually in the Northern hemisphere the best times to shoot are late Oct. to early Feb. You can get a Equatorial Camera Tracking System that will allow LONG exposures as the earth turns, but they're rather expensive, otherwise exposures are limited to under 30 seconds because of earth's rotation.  Following a few general rules, pictures of the Milky Way are easy to shoot, and if you wish to include a foreground a good flashlight is all that's needed, light paint near trees, buildings, objects, etc. while your exposure runs, just keep the light moving on your foreground.  Like anything, practice and experimentation are the keys.  Speaking of which, I plan to try a few longer focal length lenses this year.  I don't know how it's going to turn out, but nothing ventured...



#4
Merco_61

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I don't know, I believe ''super moons'' change their position and dates every year.  They're best captured either rising or setting, a half hour or so window to capture them. 

 

The moon and stars require some experimenting to get good photos with just a few general rules.  The moon is easier, and if your steady, no tripod needed, just a long focal length lens and a camera, (I use a tripod and shutter release cable).  Prepare to vary things!  Start with some basic settings and work from there, ''generally'', match the ISO and shutter speed sorta close, always expose for the moon itself, spot metering works best, and choose a mid aperture setting and manual focus.  I fire a lot of shots at it on the rise and am changing my camera settings along the way.  It's nearly impossible to get a detailed moon AND any detail on earth in the same shot, they're just too far apart as to the settings for either.  If you capture a backdrop, your moon is going to be just a bright detail-less ball in the sky, capture a good moon and you probably won't have any detail on earth.  You can combine a good moon with a good night shot in post though.

 

Stars, the Milky Way, or other features in the night sky require more planning, (what's visible, and when) along with more and better stuff!   The camera used being the least of your concerns.  In FX, a GOOD fast 14-24mm lens is best, sharp with the least amount of distortion at the edges as possible, (the stars at the edges will look like triangles with a lens with distortion).  A tripod is NEEDED as your exposures will range from around 15 seconds to almost 30.  A remote or cable release unless you want to mess with the camera's delay shutter release.  And lastly, a clear night and place where light polution is minimal.  Use a mid ISO setting and a fast f-stop, focus and try several exposure lengths.  One of the keys here is knowing where in the sky to shoot, a star map is vital for this.  Usually in the Northern hemisphere the best times to shoot are late Oct. to early Feb. You can get a Equatorial Camera Tracking System that will allow LONG exposures as the earth turns, but they're rather expensive, otherwise exposures are limited to under 30 seconds because of earth's rotation.  Following a few general rules, pictures of the Milky Way are easy to shoot, and if you wish to include a foreground a good flashlight is all that's needed, light paint near trees, buildings, objects, etc. while your exposure runs, just keep the light moving on your foreground.  Like anything, practice and experimentation are the keys.  Speaking of which, I plan to try a few longer focal length lenses this year.  I don't know how it's going to turn out, but nothing ventured...

A graduated ND-filter can be your friend…



#5
lightcapture

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I was lazy and should have looked it up but here's the answer. I did some research on moons from NASA  Supermoon, Blood Moon, Blue Moon and Harvest Moon | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids

 

A "supermoon" appears to us as a larger-than-usual Moon in our night sky. A supermoon looks larger just because it's a bit closer to Earth. "Supermoon" is actually just a nickname for what astronomers call a perigean full moon – a moon that is full and at its closest point in its orbit around Earth.

 

The term "harvest moon" refers to the full, bright Moon that occurs closest to the start of autumn. The name dates from the time before electricity, when farmers depended on the Moon's light to harvest their crops late into the night. The Moon's light was particularly important during fall, when harvests are the largest.

 

One meaning of a "blood moon" is based on its red glow. This blood moon occurs during a total lunar Lunar Eclipses and Solar Eclipses | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids. During a total lunar eclipse, Earth lines up between the Moon and the Sun. This hides the Moon from the sunlight.

 

When you hear someone say, "Once in a blue moon …" you know they are talking about something rare. A blue moon is not blue in color. In fact, a blue moon does not look any different than a regular, monthly full moon.

Rather, a blue moon is special because it is the "extra" Moon in a season with four full moons. This usually only happens every two-and-a-half years. Since the 1940s, the term "blue moon" has also been used for the second full moon in a calendar month. This usually happens only every two-and-a-half years.



#6
lightcapture

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I've never seriously tried photographing the moon but I will try now that a have a 70-300 for my FF camera.

 

Here's a basic guide I found.

https://www.lightsta...graph-the-moon/

 

And a guide that delves deeper.

How to Photograph the Moon and Supermoon: The Complete Guide



#7
krag96

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A graduated ND-filter can be your friend…

Yes, Peter.  I forgot about that.

 

Here's a few of the more interesting shots with June's ''Super Moon''.  Shot with a D700 and Nikkor 300mm f4 IF  ED

 

Rising through the trees, exposed for the moon.  cropped

wjmwxxIl.jpg

 

Different exposure=different effect, but still interesting. Lost detail of the moon, but gained a sky effect. cropped

fsB2dCsl.jpg

 

Uncropped image w/300mm lens

drAL3H3l.jpg

 

D750 Nikkor 300mm f4 IF ED 107% crop

oqgMIJ3l.jpg

 

Milky Way taken long enough ago I no longer have a file on the lens or settings, (probably with my Nikkor 24-120 f4 G ED lens at 24mm f4 and about a 17-20 second exposure)  I probably cropped this a bit to get rid of most of the distortion, the 20-35mm f2.8  IF D ED would do much better with less distortion. 

jngQ9Nml.jpg

 

On this one I light painted the tree with a small flashlight, (about 10-12 seconds of waving the flashlight around on the tree).  Any interesting object in the foreground can be light painted in if close enough.  Interesting tree?  No, just trying light painting for the first time.

3LcUu0Yl.jpg



#8
lightcapture

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Uncropped image w/300mm lens

drAL3H3l.jpg

 

D750 Nikkor 300mm f4 IF ED 107% crop

oqgMIJ3l.jpg

 

Thanks for the photos Krag96.

 

I'm not going to get my hopes up with my D750 and 70-300.

Looking at your photos I see that D750 doesn't have high enough resolution and when cropped 100% yields pretty soft images.

I'll try occasionally, but not going to put much effort into it.

I'll be content looking at the moon and constellations through my Nikon 10x50 binoculars.

 

BTW, 'til the end of June all the planets of our solar system will still be in line w/ the moon viewing to the east in early AM in North America. We're heading to rural MI tomorrow so I plan on star gazing at them. I live in a city so I haven't been able to stargaze so I'm looking forward to it.