Harvest Moon over the Texas Coast

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

Tonight's Harvest Moon is bright and big. Here's my best photo of it -- and that took me many efforts -- I ended up putting the camera on full manual. The bright moon on the dark background of the sky made the shot very challenging. No tripod needed, as the shutter had to be set pretty fast!

[Jon Twitchell]

My buddy Jeff (www.jeffturnerphotography.com) took this picture on his way up to visit us tonight. Enjoy!

[Joel Merrill]

No tripod needed, as the shutter had to be set pretty fast!

Before cameras had light meters, photographers used the "Sunny 16 Rule". In bright sunshine, you set your aperture to f16 and your shutter speed to the number closest to the film speed you were using. So if you were using ASA 100 film, you would set your shutter speed to 1/100th of a second and your aperture at f16 and you would have the correct exposure for bright sunshine. Then along came light meters and photographers got lazy. Light meters are calibrated for the average picture. If you have back lighting or you are on snow, water or any other non-average lighting, the meter doesn't know any better and is fooled. The moon is lit by bright sunshine. So even thought the sky is black, you set your exposure like it were a bright sunny day and you will have the correct exposure. After all, it's a bright sunny day on the moon.

If you are using a long zoom lens, you may need to use a tripod but even then there is a way around it. Each f-stop is equal to one click of the shutter speed dial. So you could speed up the shutter speed 2 clicks to 1/500th of a second and open your aperture 2 stops to f8 and you would have the correct exposure (for 100 speed film) and as a bonus, your central apertures give you the sharpest picture.

Now if you are using ASA400 film, you can set your aperture at f16 and you stutter speed at 1/500 or you can set your aperture at f11 and your shutter speed at 1/1000.

If you have a strictly automatic camera you still may not be out of luck. See if you have a "Spot Meter" feature on your camera. If you are still shooting film, try putting ASA 800 or 1000 film in the camera and setting the meter at ASA 100. It pays to experiment sometimes. Try using your auto flash. Of course you aren't going to reach the moon with your flash but on some cameras it will automatically give you a faster shutter speed than you would normally get shooting in the dark, typically 1/60th or 1/100th. It might work. All you are out is a little film if it don't.

Joel

[Hans Deventer]

If you have a strictly automatic camera you still may not be out of luck. See if you have a "Spot Meter" feature on your camera.

Though I can set a lot manually, I use spot metering quite often if there are huge contrasts. It really helps.

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

test -Dixie Echoes in concert at the National Quartet Convention