Hunter's moon

Hunter's moon tonight. All images below were taken with a Canon EOS T3i and EF 75-300mm @300mm,  ISO 100. Adjustments for sharpening, contrast, exposure, etc. were synchronized for all the images, so hopefully the only variable is lens sharpness at the various f-stops.

1/160", f/9

1/125", f/10

1/100", f/11

1/80", f/13

One day to full moon

Another clear night. Except for exposure, camera settings were the same as with yesterday's shoot. And as in yesterday I waited till Luna was directly overhead. This minimizes the atmosphere that I have to shoot through. Shot from the same spot with camera and lens shielded from city lights.

Took one shot each at the following aperture-shutter speed combinations:
f/8: 1/125" & 1/100"
f/9: 1/100" & 1/80"
f/10: 1/80'& 1/60"
f/11: 1/60" & 1/50"
f/13: 1/50" & 1/40"

All ten frames needed at least -1.0EV compensation in post. The image from the f/8 seemed a little less sharp than those at smaller apertures.

Canon EOS T3i, 1/60", f/11, ISO 100, EF 75-300 @300mm

Raindrops on papaya leaves

Was browsing my photos folders and this grabbed my attention. Took this in early September. For some reason I really like it.  

Canon A480 CHDK enabled, RAW DNG, 1/35", f/5.9, 21.6mm, ISO 243

Almost a full moon again

Took almost three dozen shots of the moon varying both aperture (f/8 to f/14) and shutter speed (1/40" to 1/160") by a third of a stop. Except for the exposure, other settings on the camera were the same as in the previous shoot. I again used Live View real-time histogram to check exposure. After taking the first couple of shots, I checked the histograms of those shots and looked out for the "blinkies" on the image. Seeing that parts were blowing out, I dialed a faster shutter speed.

I initially autofocused through the viewfinder as well as in Live View but halfway through the shots getting down on my knees and looking through the viewfinder with the lens pointing practically straight up was simply too much of a pain in the neck--literally. So for the last half of the shoot I relied solely on Live Mode focusing and x10 magnification. I moved the focusing rectangle to the right portion of the moon so that part of it was covering the empty black sky. I figured (and I could be totally wrong) that because Live View focusing is contrast-based, this would help nail the focus.

As always minimizing camera shake was very high on my agenda. 10-second self-timer was enabled and I gingerly tripped the shutter while in Live View so the mirror was up by default.

Only the first couple of test shots I took had blown highlights. Nevertheless, in post, I had to cut back on the exposure (midtones to highlights) anywhere from a third to one stop, depending on the aperture-shutter speed combo that I had used. This was necessary to bring out the surface details of the moon. Shots that were closest to the correct exposure (those that needed just -0.3EV compensation) seemed to have the most noise. The image below had a -0.8EV compensation.

Canon EOS T3i, 1/50", f/11, ISO 100, EF 75-300 III @300mm

Half a Luna

Another relatively clear night. Did a whole series of shots from f/5.6 to f/16 (but for some damn reason failed to shoot one at f/8! Maybe, juuuust maybe, it was because I started shooting at f/9 and only after finishing the f/16 shot did I work back to f/5.6). Was in manual mode (of course) with ISO fixed at 100 for all shots. Autofocused in Live View using Live Mode at x10 magnified view. I had (ever since I got the camera) back button focus setting #1 (AE Lock / AF) enabled, so after pressing and holding the star (*) button and after the camera had locked focus, pressing the shutter button wouldn't change the focus. I did focus again several times whenever I switched to the various aperture settings adjusted the tripod head to re-aim the camera to center the ever-drifting subject. To my mind such movements could potentially jar the focus mechanisms.

Mirror lock-up was enabled, but since I was using Live View that was unnecessary. Self-timer was set to 10-second mode to allow any shake to die down after I press the shutter button. At 300mm the image would wobble with the slightest vibration so it was imperative that camera shake was down to the absolute minimum possible. Fortunately there was hardly a breeze. And I had positioned the camera beside a wall to shield it from both light spill from the street lamps and buildings as well as from any possible gust.

To get the exposure right, I relied on the Live View real-time histogram. I dialed the shutter speed until the highlights bumped up against the right of the histo without going over. But in post I discovered every single frame was overexposed by half a stop! Lesson learned. Need to keep in mind that Canon's histo isn't that reliable for mega high contrast astrophotos and so must compensate by dialing the shutter speed down by 0.33 to 0.66EV. Another revelation: Performing pixel peeping at 100% crop, anything below f/8 has horrible, grotesque, will-scare-the-shit-out-of-your-momma chromatic aberration that's difficult to remove even with Canon's lens correction profile. Besides, anything below f/8 is less sharp. So to hell with those aperture settings. For images with lots of detail at least--like the moon.

Canon T3i, 1/15", f/9, ISO 100, EF 75-300mm III @300mm

Orion and a cloud dashing across

Saw at least one Orionid meteor last night. The streak was just a fraction of a second long. Took several >60sec exposures using a wide angle but didn't catch any meteor on film (sorry I can't bring myself to write "sensor"). I resigned myself to not being in a right location (light polluted city) for long exposures nor the right lens--I don't have a f/1.4 or faster wide angle. And so I just took some shots of Orion, Alderbaran and Pleiades (tried to at least) instead. Clouds were really sprinting across the sky and I knew I'd be able to catch some nice motion blur whilst they crossed the frame. I didn't expect they'd turn out so bright--caused by their reflecting of the orange light from street lamps of the metro.

Constellation Orion is at the top left. Sirius is the very bright star near the bottom of the frame.

Canon T3i, 25", f/5.6, ISO 400, EF-S 18-55mm II @18mm

Focusing was so damn difficult with the lens at 18mm (or for that matter at 55). I could hardly see the stars through the viewfinder (and so framing was hard as well) and nothing turns up in Live View even with x10 focus zoom. So I relied on hyperfocal distance and focused on a lit building a couple of hundred meters away.

Hail Luna!

Had pretty clear skies at late dusk. Took some 15 images of the crescent moon from f/11 to f/14 at various shutter speeds. To my ever-worsening eyes the sharpness was pretty much the same for the 3 aperture settings. The moon pics I got then are--hands down--the best I've taken thus far, thanks in part to the excellent weather condition. I auto-focused in Live View. Because I was switching Live View on and off I also had mirror lock enabled just in case. I usually use the 2-second self timer but this time around I switched over to 10 seconds given the 300mm focal length.

1/13",  f/11, ISO 100, EF 75-300mm III @300mm

Cirrusly smoked moon

Shot in landscape and rotated. This was a little before 4 in the afternoon.

1/250", f/8, ISO 100, EF 75-300 III @300mm

Fire and ice

 

1/40", f/8, ISO 100, EF-S 18-55mm II @18mm

1/125", f/16, ISO 800, 18mm

Time peels all

You probably would have never guessed it but the following are shots of a ceiling not a wall. Decades old. Weathered from exposure to the elements. Directional light from the sunset drew out the textures.


West side ceiling. Pareidolia time. What do those patches where the paint have fallen off look to you?

1/60", f/11, ISO 400, EF-S 18-55mm II @55mm

 North side

1/15", f/16, ISO 800, 55mm