Sometimes you get a good one

Trying to get a great shot of the moon has eluded me.? I have tried and tried and tried to get a great night shot.? We spent an hour out in the freezing cold trying to get a good shot of the eclipse a few months ago.? Last night we got home from the store and there was the moon right above our neighbor’s house.? The trusty husband thought I might be able to get a good shot.

I turned dials, set f-stops.? I tried everything to get something decent.? I had to eventually give in because it was so fricken cold outside.

Once I downloaded everything off of the camera, one image stood out.? This is the original image.? The settings were ISO 400, f/5.6 on a 3 second exposure (yes, I was using a tripod).

originalmoon3-11-09

Pretty cool huh?? I had no clue what I was doing.? The light that comes off of my neighbor’s house is not actually green.? It is this loud humming yellow halide light.? And the sky… not really purple that night.? It was black outside.

Then there is this amazing thing called Photoshop where you can make any craptastic photo look stellar.? This is what happens when I do that.

moon-3-11-09

Composition of it isn’t the best.? I’m just impressed with the colors.? I shot it through the Sumac tree in our front yard.? This was as close up on the moon as I could get.? I have an 18-55mm lens.? I do have an 80-200mm lens with a 2x converter that I’ve used to take close ups of Mt. Rushmore, but I haven’t figured out how to use it well with a digital camera.

Hopefully with a little practice I can get better at this whole photography thing.

6 Comment

  1. Lauren says: Reply

    I am trying to learn true photography myself. I don’t know what it is but the iso/fstop/ etc type of info just isn’t sticking in my brain.

    I bought a book so we will see if that helps. My quest is not only to take better pictures overall but to really get great fireworks shots.

    Those colors were really cool, though. I think I wish I had photoshop. I do have the elements though.

  2. Jenn says: Reply

    Nice pictures you took! I love looking at night photography, and there’s a photographer whose work I particularly like for that: Troy Paiva. You can view his pictures here: http://www.lostamerica.com/. If you click on the link “Technique,” you can read his detailed descriptions on how he does what he does. Enjoy!

  3. I like the photography stuff! vv cool.

  4. Amy says: Reply

    Elle, what kind of camera do you use???

  5. mom says: Reply

    Pretty… very pretty

  6. Yes, you got a good one here (as your title said). And with that photoshop thingy that you did (I like that word “craptastic” by the way), yes this photo is fantastic! But really it’s a great shot – a keeper.

    I find that since I started blogging I also am using our camera more and my interest in photography is growing. I think it goes hand in hand.

    (and by the way, beautiful lay-out you have here – I thought I’d mention that even though you already know I like all your design work 🙂

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