*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #1

[Chewy734]

not yet rodi, but thanks for asking. You can tell her to...

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[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by rodi

niiiice!

Thank you professor.

[The1]

love the cave shot, and love the colour inside the shell...

[dcstep]

What big eyes you have:


Amber eyes... by dcstep, on Flickr

[The1]

thanks

[oneintheory]

Whitney C. by jsophoto, on Flickr

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

pic's not working Badger.

wait really?

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

wait really?

It asks me to login to zhp mafia.

Nice shot Josh!

[The1]

she's a cutie

[gcochard]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Cliffhopper, I think those moon shots were shot at too low of an angle to the horizon, shooting through too much atomosphre, robbing detail. Here one that I shot a week or two ago with moon about 40-degrees above the horizon:

The Canon 500mm f/4L IS is one of the best pieces of glass ever made and I've never heard many good things about inexpensive reflex super-teles, but I would expect more out of the Meade. The low pixel-pitch of my 7D makes it an ideal camera for astrophotography.

Whenever I see an interesting moon and I've got my camera anywhere near, I take a picture. I've tried about two more times since this one and both times got the resulting images looking more like your examples, I think that's due to the moon being low to the horizon. This WILL vary from day to day and smog ebbs and flows.

Dave

My shots were between 9:45 and 10:45 so I'm not sure it was the angle of the moon. It was probably above 40 degrees. More likely I didn't know what I was doing. I think the focus was a little bit off.

I'll be doing more astrophotography in the near future with this d5100 and my dad's d50 for comparison. I will have a better idea of what I'm doing and my focus will probably be a little better.

[The1]

were you using auto focus?

does the D5100 have a live view type of function where you can digitally zoom in? you can pull a very accurate zoom on the moon that way.

If not, try manual focus, if your camera doesn't have a strong image stabilizer, it can be hard to get focus on the moon while the view is moving around lots.

also shooting in the F8-F11 area may help (not sure what aperture you shot at) it will allow you to focus easier.

[gcochard]

The reflex lens I was using is stuck at f/8 and is manual focus.

The shot was handheld, I will be putting it on a tripod next.

I didn't know you could do digital zoom in live view, thanks for the tip.

[The1]

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

The reflex lens I was using is stuck at f/8 and is manual focus.

The shot was handheld, I will be putting it on a tripod next.

I didn't know you could do digital zoom in live view, thanks for the tip.

some cameras allow it some don't, i'm not as familiar with the Nikons so not sure.

and i forgot you were using a reflex lens. I haven't shot with one of those yet, so I won't be of much help that way.

The tripod will help a lot too, will give you all the time you need for that perfect focus.

[gcochard]

What doesn't help is that this reflex does not have a hard infinity focus stop.

I'll try zooming in live view when it's mounted to the meade and see if it helps dial in a good focus.

[The1]

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

What doesn't help is that this reflex does not have a hard infinity focus stop.

I'll try zooming in live view when it's mounted to the meade and see if it helps dial in a good focus.

fingers crossed for you.

how do you like the reflex lens otherwise?

[TL]

Brooklyn Bridge B&W by GQjai, on Flickr

[The1]

nice shooting as usual Tim

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

The reflex lens I was using is stuck at f/8 and is manual focus.

The shot was handheld, I will be putting it on a tripod next.

I didn't know you could do digital zoom in live view, thanks for the tip.

Remember, the moon is very bright and it's easy to shoot hand held at focal lenths as short a 500mm (the Meade is another matter). Shooting at f/5.6 with my hand held 500mm, the shot I put up was at 1/1000-sec. That and the Image Stabilization makes it a breeze to hand hold.

If you overexpose, which is very likely, you'll wash out all kinds of highlight details. If you want to use Av mode, set the EV at -1EV, turn on the blinkie highlight warnings in your preview screen and adjust from there (up or down). You want as high an EV as you can get without the highlight warnings going off.

Remember, you've got tons of time, so do critical focus. Remember, increasing your DOF by shooting at f/8 isn't going to matter one bit when you subject is over 200,000 miles away. An open aperture puts the most pixels on the subject.

Critical focus is a must. I used AF in my shot, but if you're having trouble, switch to MF and use the optical VF to fine tune focus. If the sky is dark and you don't use a tripod, this can be very hard to do, because finding the moon against the black can be hard. On a tripod, first aim at the moon with AF on, turn to MF and fine tune with 10x live view (or whatever Nikon calls it) instead of the optical VF.

Low smog and 30-degrees or more above the horizon will yield the sharpest results.

Looking forward to more astro shots...

So, get the exposure and focus right, in post you can add a ton of Contrast. Consider going to B&W, particularly if you don't have a blue sky. Blow it up over 100% the pull the level down as you observe details. Stop pulling the level down when details peak.

Dave

[dcstep]

Tim, I love the weather and the geometric balance in the composition.

[Chewy734]

nice shot Tim! Glad you went with B&W in that photo.

[MATT0404]

TL, that's a great shot!

A shot from today. Anyone know birds and can help with ID of this guy?


IMG_2571 by mkrepp, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by MATT0404

TL, that's a great shot!

A shot from today. Anyone know birds and can help with ID of this guy?

Very nice Mattt.

Assuming that's a relatively small hawk, I'm guessing it's a sharp-skinned hawk. If you have some other views, might go to Cornell's AllAboutBirds.org to see if you can compare to other similar birds. Also, searches on Flickr can be very helpful.

Dave