Posted by Mike McNeill on March 1, 2007 at 5:44 PM
I figured out how the use this option in the D200, as well as Intervale exposure and Image overlay. All this to attempt a multiple exposure shot of the eclipsed moon rising over the Boston skyline this weekend. My attempt at this yesterday afternoon ended up with a blownout image. Not very good at all. How do you/I expose this scene? It will still be fairly light out once the red moon rises but as it gets dark and the city lights become brighter, how do I expose for a white moon without blowing out the city lights with roughly 15 exposures? In other words, How do I get 15 white moons in one image without blowing out the skyline with 15 shots?
It seems to me that the moon is many factors brighter than the Boston lights would be. But wait, you say, the moon will be in eclipse mode! Well, if you compensate for the dimming light on the moon by increasing exposure, all you'll do is cancel out the effects of the eclipse. (It's similar to a mistake I've seen many very experienced, published photographers make when asked how to expose for a crescent moon vs. a full moon. The correct answer is, the same exposure for both, just like photographing a fat man or a skinny man on a sunlit beach would be. But I digress...)
I would suggest fine-tuning an exposure for the moon when it's not in the Earth's shadow (I've used a "moony-11 rule" with some success over the years), and keep that setting through the entirety of the eclipse, so that the light of the moon will show a natural progression as it transitions from clear to penumbral phase, to umbral, to totality, and back again. If you're still concerned about the city lights getting blown out, try an ND-grad filter upside-down to hold back some of the light from the city lights.
Another suggestion would be to make a practice run tonight or tomorrow when the moon is at any point in the sky, just to calculate how much time needs to elapse between exposures so that the moon is evenly spaced across the frame, but not overlapping at any point.
Mike,
Although I've never shot an eclipse, I like shooting low light and night images. My best results have come from blending in PS. However, since you're asking about multiple exposures, I think you're going to have to be accurate and creative with your grad nd. I've been poking around on the web and there is some really good info on the astronomy websites. Best of luck and please some of your results.
Paul
Also, contrary to what I stated previously, these sites do suggest some alteration of exposure during the eclipse, but apparently not enough to cancel out the effects of the eclipse entirely.
Posted by Mike McNeill on March 1, 2007 at 9:24 PM
Hi Todd thanks for your help. I did the practice run yesterday afternoon, knowing that tonight and tomorrow would be overcast. I had seen the 1st two web sites but not the third. Most of those sites, and their exposure charts, I believe talk about exposing for the moon only, and are not taking into account the city lites. The moon rises here while in totality and will be getting lighter as the sky is getting darker so obviously I wont be exposing a bright full moon to begin with. I quess my question is, do I spot meter the moon, (with a hand camera) for each shot, or do I matrix meter the entire scene each time and compensate for the moon? If so, what happens to the sky/skyline/city lights by the 5th 10th 15th shot? I guess the ND Filter will help somewhat. This isn't going to be easy. My plans are to set up 4 cameras, 2 with mutiple exposure, the 4x5 and D200, and the 35mm and D100 each taking single shots. I figure I'll have to get SOMETHING, after all........even a broken clock is right twice a day!!!!!!
Discussion
4 repliesThanks for any help!!
I would suggest fine-tuning an exposure for the moon when it's not in the Earth's shadow (I've used a "moony-11 rule" with some success over the years), and keep that setting through the entirety of the eclipse, so that the light of the moon will show a natural progression as it transitions from clear to penumbral phase, to umbral, to totality, and back again. If you're still concerned about the city lights getting blown out, try an ND-grad filter upside-down to hold back some of the light from the city lights.
Another suggestion would be to make a practice run tonight or tomorrow when the moon is at any point in the sky, just to calculate how much time needs to elapse between exposures so that the moon is evenly spaced across the frame, but not overlapping at any point.
Although I've never shot an eclipse, I like shooting low light and night images. My best results have come from blending in PS. However, since you're asking about multiple exposures, I think you're going to have to be accurate and creative with your grad nd. I've been poking around on the web and there is some really good info on the astronomy websites. Best of luck and please some of your results.
Paul
http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html
http://starryskies.com/The_sky/events/lunar-2003/eclipse3.html
http://www.eclipse-chasers.com/lunar/leclphot.htm
And that's just the first three listings!
Also, contrary to what I stated previously, these sites do suggest some alteration of exposure during the eclipse, but apparently not enough to cancel out the effects of the eclipse entirely.