FIRST YOU NEED A CLEAR SKY

I took this shot from our back step last week. When I got my zoom lens I found instructions on the web on how to photograph the moon. I didn’t make a note of the link but I’m sure if you look around you can find it.

Two simple rules were given. 1. Don’t use any auto exposure modes (program, aperture, or shutter priority)-SWITCH TO FULL MANUAL. 2. Follow the first rule, or else. Then there was a long detailed explanation about shutter speeds, pixels and F stops. It mostly boiled down to setting the focus to infinity, the ISO to 400 if you are not using a tripod, 100-200 if you are. Set your aperture to 5.6 (F8 for ISO 100) and shutter speed to 1/400. These settings work well for me. Sometimes I crank the ISO up to 800 when I can’t steady the camera against a wall, but the pictures aren’t as sharp. My problem is remembering from one time to the next how to adjust the manual settings on my Nikon.

Nikon D40 with a Nikkor 70-300 lens with vibration reduction. F5.6 at 1/400 ISO 200, manual focus set to infinity.

The lower the moon is in the sky the better the shot. Both photos were cropped to size in Photoshop. Orange was added to the first shot for spooky effect.

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An old man is a witness in a burglary case.

The defense lawyer asks the old man, "Did you see my client commit this burglary?"

"Yes," says the old man. "I saw him plainly take the goods."

The lawyer asks the old man: "This happened at night. Are you sure you saw my client commit this crime?"

"Yes," says the old man. "I saw him do it."

Then the lawyer asks him, "Listen, you are 80 years old and your eye sight is probably bad. Just how far can you see at night?"

The old man thinks for a few moments then says, "I can see the moon, how far is that?"

I know, Old Joke.