I've wanted to see the full Moon at Marblehead for a long time, but wasn't sure how to capture the image- I shot this at 40 seconds f-16 on velvia 100, 2 stops over. The light from the chuch in the back lights the tower. After I shot, I thought of ways to get it better- like turning a ND filter sideways-reading an exposure from the tower itself- I'm open to suggestions for my next time up there. Help!!

That's chuRch in the back!!

Hey Bud,

Lunar photography is something I dabbled in but have yet to get a good shot. I can tell you by looking at the photo that the shot is underexposed, which means not enough light was getting to your film. Either a longer exposure is needed at your current setting, or you need to open up your lens more. It's tricky. Check out this website for a directory on more information on lunar photography:

Moonlight Photography

This one in particular has got some great information and exposure tables to calculate proper exposure.

Lunar Photography

It's a tricky situation. You basically can't control the lighting 'on the moon' so you've got to start with the correct exposure for that, then adjust the lighting on the lighthouse.

YOu could do that with your own lighting (flash off the camera while the camera is doing a time exposure for the moon.)

However, the moon is moving (or actually the earth is turning) so your moon exposure probably limits you to 1/2 to 1 second.

Another thing you could do to get a BIG moon behind the lighthouse is to back way up and use a long telephoto lens.

All this from a guy who has never tried these ideas 'hisself'

Thanks, Jen- looks like some good info on that link.

Thanks, John- I was concerned about the rotation from a long exposure. I'm really a rookie on this, but it looks like it could be a great shot- it looked pretty good in person!!