Magic of the Moon

by Paul B. Moore

Description This is a photography book containing more than 60 images, and although some tips are offered to aid others in similar photography, it is not an instruction manual. Since the beginning of my memory I have always been fascinated with the sky and everything contained therein. Clouds, stars, moon and even the sun have always garnered my consistent attention and many hours both day and night have I stood captivated staring into the sky. As one may expect this volume contains photographs of the sky and its occupants, clouds and moon, in various combinations as presented by nature and any other entity who may claim responsibility for such a marvelous scene. I bow to all of you. For those interested in hardware and technique I will say that most of these images were taken with a Nikon D600 fitted with a 500MM preset lens, a Nikon D5100 that has been converted to see in infrared and fitted with a 24-120MM Nikkor zoom lens. A few of them were even taken on film with a Pentax 645 fitted with various lenses. Can you imagine that, film! Ah, the film used was Kodak TMAX-100. In all cases a tripod was used. It really doesn't matter which brand as any good tripod will serve you well. Mine was a Manfrotto fitted with a ball head. In all cases the camera was fired in a mirror up state with a cable release. Exposures varied between 1/30 - 1/125 of a second at f16 at iso 100 - why f16? The particular 500MM lens I used had an f-setting range of f8 through f32 and f16 is the sharpest setting for this individual lens. Vibration is not the only issue. When shooting at night forget all about your in-camera light meter. Atmospheric conditions can play a profound roll in the clarity of your images and cannot always be observed until examining the final images. If your images are not as sharp as you would like keep trying and remember that the atmosphere is less dense straight up than at the horizon. The vast difference between the bright moon in the black sky will render it all but useless. Try 1/30 sec at f16 or a combination thereof. One last note - a 500MM lens is extraordinarily sensitive to even the slightest vibration. So wait 5 to 10 seconds after you trip mirror up before you trip the shutter. Even a healthy breeze can ruin the sharpness of your images. I hope you enjoy the work contain herein.