Moon Watching

(Nearly) Full Moon Close Up

First, let me tell you one thing - no, I did not use a telescope. A few nights ago I got out with the new camera, stuck it on a tripod, and got some shots of the (nearly) full Moon. When I looked at them on-screen later (and with a bit of cropping), this is what came up! I've never been able to take a photo of the Moon as accurate and detailed as this before, but with the Fujifilm S9600's 10.7x zoom these photos turned out remarkably clear. You can actually see the minute markings and dark patches on the Moon.

I found, however, that using auto-exposure settings resulted in a washed-out Moon, even when I focused the camera on the Moon's radius. I actually had to increase the shutter speed to about 1/320 before the Moon's markings started to become visible. This also helped to make the camera steadier, so I was able to use an ISO setting of just 80.

Later in the week I got up on the roof and shot the photo below. The Moon is framed by the branches of the eucalyptus, or gum tree which fills up most of the frame, and the tree in turn is highlighted by the Moon's light. This photo was taken at dusk, just after the Sun had set.

After trying many times to get good Moon photos I had nearly given up, but this new camera has yet again proved its worth, managing to get some excellent photos of the Moon. My only piece of advice to potential moon-gazers is this - keep your shutters well up!

Moon behind Eucalyptus tree

These photos taken with the Fujifilm S9600 camera.
Photo #1 (Moon Close-up): Shutter speed 1/319, F4.9, ISO 80
Photo #2 (Moon behind tree): Shutter speed 1/60, F4.9, ISO 100