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How to Photograph the Moon
The best way to capture the beauty of the Moon is by photographing it. There are various ways of doing that, each of which could reveal different aspect of the Moon, and each of which could produce astonishing results.
How to photograph the Moon? is not a simple question to ask. Why? Well, the answer to this question would depend on the what exactly you want to capture.
The Moon phases can provide you with quite a lot of material. You could take pictures during different days and compare how the Moon would look like. You could also zoom in, and take a photo of several craters alone around the terminator (the "line" that separates the illuminated from the dark part of the Moon). Some interesting things could happen in these areas. Look at the picture above. The big crater, near the top of the image, is split by the terminator. Part of its left wall is lit up, as though defying the darkness.
The next Moon photography is taken in a day or so difference from the one above. I had also applied larger eyepiece magnification, as you can see from the limited filed of view. This image is taken with a film camera and scanned from a photo. Unfortunately for me, all my negatives are on the wrong side of the Atlantic, and I can't currently rescan them with a superior quality.
The Moon phases can provide you with quite a lot of material. You could take pictures during different days and compare how the Moon would look like. You could also zoom in, and take a photo of several craters alone around the terminator (the "line" that separates the illuminated from the dark part of the Moon). Some interesting things could happen in these areas. Look at the picture above. The big crater, near the top of the image, is split by the terminator. Part of its left wall is lit up, as though defying the darkness.
The next Moon photography is taken in a day or so difference from the one above. I had also applied larger eyepiece magnification, as you can see from the limited filed of view. This image is taken with a film camera and scanned from a photo. Unfortunately for me, all my negatives are on the wrong side of the Atlantic, and I can't currently rescan them with a superior quality.
Pictures of craters along the terminator would have more contrast than such taken of the same craters during or near full moon. Since the Sun is casting light down at a small angle to the Moon's surface, the shadows that are created in this way would also make the craters look more three-dimensional and "pop up" from your images.
Lenses/Telescopes
Using lenses and/or telescopes with different focal lengths would determine the size of the Moon in your camera. Since the Moon has the same angular size as the Sun, everything about choosing the proper, for your needs, focal length applies here. So, instead of repeating myself, I'll let you visit the photograph the Sun section for more details. There you'll see an example of how the Sun/Moon would look like with different lenses/telescopes and in different cameras. I've given a simple formula that you can use to calculate the absolute size of the Sun/Moon in your camera's focal plane.
To photograph the Moon you could also try different filters if you have such. Based on the density of the filters you are going to use, you would have to play the the exposure times. Bluish filters usually increase the image contrast, but other filters (red, green or even blue) could be fun to try. There are also specialized Moon filters that would increase the contrast and enhance the details of your photos.
Lenses/Telescopes
Using lenses and/or telescopes with different focal lengths would determine the size of the Moon in your camera. Since the Moon has the same angular size as the Sun, everything about choosing the proper, for your needs, focal length applies here. So, instead of repeating myself, I'll let you visit the photograph the Sun section for more details. There you'll see an example of how the Sun/Moon would look like with different lenses/telescopes and in different cameras. I've given a simple formula that you can use to calculate the absolute size of the Sun/Moon in your camera's focal plane.
To photograph the Moon you could also try different filters if you have such. Based on the density of the filters you are going to use, you would have to play the the exposure times. Bluish filters usually increase the image contrast, but other filters (red, green or even blue) could be fun to try. There are also specialized Moon filters that would increase the contrast and enhance the details of your photos.
