From a recent walk-about in Boston. Haven’t seen a blue sky in several days, so I’m thumbing through the archives to get some sunshine.

Blue Skies is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

As always, click to enlarge. Here in New England, everything is gray and grimy. It’s late February, the ugly side of winter.

Back in New Mexico, the skies still know how to share blue, and even though it’s winter, there is still some warmth to be found.

Tree, Sky is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Here’s a guest post with some information on how to take great moon shots. To start with – you need a long lens. This was taken with a 300 mm lens, and it’s still not the most detailed image ever. I think something in the 600 mm range probably works best. Other specs on this image: tripod mounted, ISO 200, and 1/80 second shutter speed. To get decent moon shots, you need to have your camera in manual mode, because the highly concentrated, bright light of the moon surrounded by inky blackness does not compute for most cameras.

In any regards, here are some tips on how to take moon photos:

Dark side of the moon – Taking great photographs of the Moon

Since ancient times, human beings have been continually fascinated and inspired by the moon. While you may think that once you’ve seen one photo of the moon, you’ve seen them all, there are many techniques you can use with your SLR camera to make your moon images stand out from the rest, without needing to be an astronomy expert.

There are some basic tips and equipment you’ll need to get started:

• A low ISO – For most DSLRs, an ISO of 200 works very well for moon photography. While that may seem counter-intuitive, as this setting is usually used for day-time photography, the moon is reflecting a large amount of sunlight. Using a higher ISO will result in a photo of a white disc, with none of the craters or other small details of the moon’s surface visible. Choosing a low ISO allows you to capture the intricacies of the moon’s surface.

• Timing – the moon looks different in the sky during the different stages of the lunar cycle, and also during different times of the day and night. Experiment by taking your photos in the afternoon, in the middle of the night, when the moon is at its fullest, and when the moon is crescent-shaped. Finding your ideal moon phase is the key to creating the perfect picture

• A tripod – since you’ll be photographing with a slightly longer lens exposure time, mounting the camera on a tripod will minimise any shaking and blurring. It will also help support the larger lens sizes to get in close to your subject matter. A remote shutter release controller may also be useful, as it allows you to push the shutter release without having to touch or knock the camera body itself.

• A Telephoto lens – professional SLR lenses make a world (and moon) of difference to your photos. A telephoto lens will enable you to take photos of items which are further away, and have a longer focal length to allow you to capture objects as distant as the moon. A 300mm zoom lens is the minimum recommended lens length for such photos. 500mm telephoto lenses and above will offer even greater quality and precision.

• Different filters – There are hundreds of filter types you can add to the front of the lens of your SLR to give your moon photos an interesting colour or effect. Adjusting the white balance settings on your digital camera can also change the appearance of the moon for some unique effects.

The most important tip is to be patient when learning to take photos of the moon.  While you may find it difficult to take quality photos on your first few tries, be persistent, keep experimenting with different combinations of filters, lenses and shutter speeds, and you’ll be taking NASA-worthy photos in no time.

Article Bio:

This article is brought to you by Canon New Zealand – Moon Photos. For more great Canon products your favourite EOS cameras and camera accessories, visit their website.

Guest Post: Shooting the Moon is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

I’ve posted night photos before – but usually with the stars readily apparent. Today’s image was taken of a row of trees with the city just beyond (this was taken on a farm in the North Shore area – just north of Boston, MA). Most of this part of the state is fully urbanized, but there are some pockets of forest and farm land left. In this image, the city lights just beyond the field bleach all stars away, making a dramatic contrast on a misty evening.

Night Sky is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Got up early today to see if I could get some shots of the International Space Station as it flew over. If you ever decide to do this, I recommend Spaceweather.com’s satellite tracking service. It’s a lot easier to use than NASA’s satellite tracker, in my opinion – if only because of how easy it is to read the output.

The first time I looked this information up, I saw that the ISS was going to be over my house in… one minute. Yikes! I jumped up, grabbed my camera and tripod and ran outside. I spotted the space station immediately… if you have a brightness index of -3 or lower, it’s BRIGHT (these images are from a -3.6 brightness index pass – the lower the number, the brighter it is). At this level, you literally need to be in a rainstorm to miss it. The station moves FAST.

This morning’s fly-by lasted all of two minutes and twenty-three seconds. If you don’t have your gear set up ahead of time, forget it.

These images were taken with a 50mm lens, f / 2.8, ISO 400, and all are ten second exposures. As much as I would have liked to have tried some different settings, there just wasn’t enough time.

Clicking any of these images will open them up larger, and you can scroll through the collection by hovering your mouse on the left or right side of the large image to get an arrow (if you have trouble with this, please let me know).

What do you think? Are any of these particularly interesting? Which one do you like best?

International Space Station is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

This is from a week ago… not much sunshine in the forecast for the rest of this week. I was scheduled to attend an outdoor function on Thursday, but we’re getting so much rain, it’s coming indoors.

I liked the rays of sunshine in this image – hope it brings a smile to you.

Sunshine is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Brown Pelicans Hunting is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Went to the beach one morning to catch some pictures of the sunrise, but there were too many clouds, so I never did see the sun. I did, however, get to spend an hour on the beach with only two other people within view as far as the eye could see in either direction. One of my captures was this small protected area where baby turtles are growing.

Baby Turtles Sleep Here is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

These are the last photos I will share of the sun setting over Ocracoke. Both of these were taken from the house’s widow’s walk.

Water Tower, Sunset is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Love this shot… I don’t show much of my family here, but this one seems okay. All rights reserved on this image.

Not the best lighthouse photo, I know… but it’s the last picture from the boat.

Atlantic View is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal