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Shooting the moon (was: Re: [OM] OM4Ti spot metering)

Subject: Shooting the moon (was: Re: [OM] OM4Ti spot metering)
From: Jan Steinman <jans@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 10:44:55 -0800
>From: Andre  Goforth <goforth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
...
>Why would anyone want pics of the moon, and in B&W?

Why not! Photography is creative -- do stuff that doesn't at first make
sense, and you can end up with something wonderful! (You also end up with a
lot of circular file material, but c'est la vie... :-)

>... To fill a 35 mm frame, I estimate you need a
>2400mm focal length lens.

A Celestron C-8 more than fills the frame. It's focal length is 2032mm at
f10. These can be had used for under $600, and well under $500 if you get
one without tripod, wedge, motor, etc. I got a focal reducer -- opposite of
a teleconverter -- for mine, which makes it a 1280mm f6.3, which makes the
moon fill about 800f the small dimension of the frame, which to me is
more "moonlike" than cropping part of the moon out.

Perhaps it's my imagination, or just because defects are 63 0.000000e+00ss
noticable, or the viewfinder is 63% brighter, but I like what I get with
the focal reducer better than when using the telescope at prime focal
length. This is counter-intuitive, since more glass should always mean less
quality.

>Back to the subject: spot metering. Spot metering made exposure of the moon
>a piece of cake.

Here, here! It's the only way to go for such shots! I like to meter on the
terminator. Metering on the full-sunlight portion takes out the highlights.

Another neat idea for "shooting the moon" is for eery, surrealistic
double-exposures. I once shot an entire roll of the moon in the upper part
of the frame at 400mm, then re-wound, then re-shot greek ruins in the
evening. The shots are vaguely disorienting, and keep your interest until
you realize what's "wrong" -- full moon directly in front of you, sidelight
on the ruins... hmmm... must be on a planet circling a double star! :-)

: Jan Steinman <mailto:jans@xxxxxxxxxxx>
: 19280 Rydman Court, West Linn, OR 97068-1331 USA
: +1.503.635.3229

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