how to take pictures of the moon with a Rebel T5

[irishgirl1946]

I have had my camera for a very short period of time. I want to take some pics of the moon and was wondering what settings I should use. 

[Waddizzle]

Do a web search for " Looney 11 Rule ".  I believe there is a page about it in Wikipedia.  1/100 sec, f/11, ISO-100.

But, there is more to it than camera settings..  Of course, you will need a super telephoto lens, if you wish to have closeup shots that reveal craters and other details.  You will need to manually focus your lens.  You will also need a fairly sturdy tripod, because minute vibrations are your enemy.  Many will say that you will need a remote release, but I use the camera's internal shutter delay timer.

[ebiggs1]

"I want to take some pics of the moon and was wondering what settings I should use."

First before anyone can tell you what settings to use. I must know what you are trying to get?  Do you want a close up of the Moon's surface or perhaps a landscape shot with a nice full Moon? A crescent over a lake? An eclipse?

One thing to keep in mind is, it is always daylight on the Moon. It may be dark where you are but the Moon is in bright Sun light.  The Looney 11 Rule is an adjustment to the more common and known Sunny 16 Rule.  It is designed to get you close but may not be 100% accurate.

So what do you want to do and what gear do you have exactly? Camera and lenses? Tripods, etc?

[irishgirl1946]

Hi, I have the Canon Rebel T5. I have the standard lens that came with it....18-55 mm and one I bought, 18-135 mm. I do not have a tripod, so I'll be holding the camera. All I wanted to get was a larger picture of the moon, and I don't necessarily have to have the craters, etc. l'll be in my yard....not really near a body of water. The most I would want in the picture would be part of a tree, more or less for perspective. I am new at this, as you can tell! I thank you for replying. I am hoping tonight will be as clear as last night (I am in Delaware). Last night I could not get anything since I had all the wrong settings. I have the camera set at Manual,  at 100 ISO, f/11, and 1/100 shutter speed. I figure I'll use the lens 18-135mm. Will those settings be ok???

[ebiggs1]

"I have the camera set at Manual,  at 100 ISO, f/11, and 1/100 shutter speed."

This is correct for a start.  Using a 135mm lens your Moon will not be very large in your photograph.  So a landscape will be nice. Unfortunately as I offered before, it is dark where you are and daylight on the Moon.  This difference may be out of the limits you gear can capture.  You can still get a nice Moon shot and a silhouette of the trees and such.

Your next best friend is 'bracketing'.  Make sure you shoot several shots and change the exposure on each just a bit. Say for instance, you shoot one at 100 ISO, f/11, and 1/100 shutter speed so now try 100 ISO, f8 and 1/100 SS and so on.

An example of this is a shot I did a while ago where I wanted the Moon and the stars.  Of course it is daylight on the Moon but space is very dark and stars are not very bright.  So I used a type of photography called HDR. It brackets several shots together and stacks them to increase the dynamic range, DR, of the camera.

This type shot does not require a super telephoto lens so what you have can do it, too.  It does require a tripod to get the best results.

So, kido, go out tonight and shoot the Moon!  Just shoot it a lot and with slightly different settings. 

[irishgirl1946]

Wow, I loved that picture. I would be ecstatic if I could get a picture that looked like that. Thank you so much for your suggestion.....it's nice to know that someone out there can help me!

[Waddizzle]

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@irishgirl1946 wrote:

Wow, I loved that picture. I would be ecstatic if I could get a picture that looked like that. Thank you so much for your suggestion.....it's nice to know that someone out there can help me!

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A Rebel T5 cannot perform in-camera HDR, High Dynamic Range, shots.  You would need to set up the camera to take the bracketed shots, and then download those shots to a computer running the appropriate software.  Canon's DPP, Digital Photo Professional, is able to process HDR shots.

[ebiggs1]

irishgirl1946

"Wow, I loved that picture."

Thanx so much for that praise but there is nothing special about me. You can do this and probably better.  I hesitate to explain exactly how I do this type shot in the public forum but I will in a PM. It's not that it is anything real special I just am tired of the 'constructive' criticism offered by some.

[irishgirl1946]

Hi, I got some nice pics of the moon and when I enlarged them on the computer I could see more than just a white blob!!! LOL! I didn't get any stars though, but for right now I am happy with what I did get. If you want you can always contact me by message on Facebook; I am on there just look for Jeanie Coolahan.

Thanks for your help!

[kvbarkley · Accepted solution]

You won't see stars if the moon is properly exposed. (Remember, this was one of the "clues" to the "faked" moon landings. The moon is much much brighter than stars and requires much less exposure. 

Note that in the example above he used HDR, In this case, that is essentially a double exposure.