> This discussion is getting pretty close to something I plan to try and
> do. There is a lighthouse off the coast of Morris Island near here. I have
> an idea to photograph the top of the lighthouse with the rising full moon
> directly behind it. Using TPE it is easy to locate the position and
> time/date where I need to be to get the proper alignment. I plan to shoot
> it with a 480mm/f4 refracting scope attached to my Olympus E-body. I know
> from experience that the full moon will occupy about one third of the frame
> with this setup. My question is: how large will the top of the lighthouse
> appear at this magnification? The lighthouse is about 1600 feet from the
> beach where I will be shooting and the top of the lighthouse is about 12
> feet high and 12 feet wide.
Ah, a geometry question. I'll leave the correct answer to our vast
number of REAL engineers on this list. (I'm in name only).
However, a couple of thoughts do come to mind:
1. 1600 feet is probably going to be a bit close as the moon will
probably end up getting mostly obscured. The only way to be sure is to
test this ahead of time with a shot of any moon and a shoot of the
lighthouse. Merge in your favorite editor. You may find that you're
better off with a slightly shorter lens (I use 300mm on 4/3 as my
standard setup). You may also be a little close to the lighthouse and
would be better served backup up a bit.
2. For a moonrise in the northern hemisphere, you want to start out
high and to the right of where you'll end up. As the moon rises, you
can keep shifting your position downward and slightly to your left and
get more shots. A single-position, locked-down shot will give you all
of about five seconds to get the shot and that's it. I almost
exclusively use the monopod now as I can keep hoofing. If your beach
has a slope, you'll start out in the position where the moon breaking
the horizon will be immediate behind the lighthouse (get it as low on
the horizon as possible) and as it rises, just walk down the beach and
keep shooting. When photographing radio towers and other structures, I
try to shoot along an east-west road so I can just walk down the
shoulder of the road and keep shooting. As the moon rises, I get
closer and closer to the tower. Sometimes, I end up quite a ways down
the road.
3. For moonrises, you want to shoot BEFORE the full-moon. The day
before seems to be about ideal for most locations, but depending on
terrain, you can back it up another day. This way, you'll get sunlight
on the lighthouse as well. Once the full-moon occurs, you'll end up
with a silhouette shot.
4. Lock your focus. Seriously. I gaffer-tape my lens now. In the heat
of the moment, you're timing has to be perfect, otherwise the moon
will be slightly off position from where you want it to be. If you are
hoofing it down the beach, the last thing you want to do is fight the
focus. Frame and shoot. Frame and shoot.
5. Manual exposure. With the E-thingies, I personally find that I have
to protect my highlights a lot--especially if the moon is warm
colored. I generally keep the histogram peak at least a full stop away
from clipping. I fix my aperture and shutter speed and then vary the
ISO as necessary. To me, the aperture and shutter speed are the most
important items to get right.
6. Invariably, there will be a distant cloud deck or haze layer that
prevents the moon from being visible right at moonrise. Trust the
numbers. Get a good understanding of elevation angles using your
fingers. (BTW, for most humans, when you hold your hand out at arms
length with the fingers just slightly loose, each finger is around 15
minutes of moon/sun travel near the horizon at mid-latitudes--a great
way to guess when a sunset will occur if you don't have your
electronic toys at your disposal).
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
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