Moon

In January, Moon and the Venus stood very close to each other. It was very beautiful and I wanted to take a shot of them very much. That time, I had LC50, which has creative modes. The only problem was that I had never used any of creative modes and I had no idea how to do this. I was disappointed during taking photos. The moon looked very small and it looked like a white – yellow patch on the photos, without the detailed view I liked on other peoples’ captures. The only acceptable captures I could make were shots from the distance.

Therefore, I was very happy, when I received SX10 camera. I was sure that I would capture the Moon in its beauty. So, I grabbed the camera and went ahead. I took shots and I became disappointed again. I do not even paid attention on the size of Moon. It was not necessary, as there was only a white patch on the photos.

There was nothing to do but reading what I did wrong. Some articles later, I realized that I did nothing wrong and it was the problem. I had used automatic mode of the camera including autofocus.

I made a try again. At this time, I used manual mode, as the articles said. Moon looked nice!

Now, after taking dozen shots of Moon, I know that the most important thing is manual focus. Auto focus modes do not work properly and Moon looked like a patch nothing more. So, before taking shots, set your camera to manual focus mode and set the distance to infinity or beyond the infinity. You will realize the result at once. If you take shots late night, then setting the focus manually is enough to take good photo of Moon. Its size was a bit disappointing. But what to do. I have to accept the limits of the camera.

However, I recommend using spot metering mode and select the most wonderful colors changing the white balance. Finding the right aperture and the shutter speed makes your capture better.

If you want to capture great craters then you better to take shots of growing or decreasing Moon, when the light reaches its surface from the side and makes pretty shadows. Look at the moon pictures, you can see nice crates only on the inner side of Moon. Full Moon is also great but you hardly will find cool craters on it.

I like these photos. I wanted more. I wanted the background to be blue instead of dark. It seemed very easy. I just must go out afternoon when there is not night and Moon is on the sky. I met new problems taking shots of early Moon. In this case, settings of aperture and shutter speed are essential. Forget about the viewfinder; the LCD screen is your only friend now. It is worth verifying the captures after the shots. The lights are fragile and checks are indeed important.

The last advice is the most useful. Always use tripod unless you are a superman.