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Shoot  the  moon...with  Olympus

10/21/2015

62 Comments

 
Once a month, as inky darkness settles across the land, and the creatures of the night begin to stir, I get the urge to howl at, no sorry, photograph the full moon. 

As simple as it may seem, taking photos of the moon can be challenging. If your full moon images look like a glowing white dinner plate in the sky, you are not alone. Let's find out why that is, and then work to fix it. 
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Exposure 101

The moon is not a completely featureless orb and to capture some of those formations requires an understanding of how your camera sensor determines exposure. Your camera contains a built-in light meter that reads the entire scene in the frame  and averages the lights and the darks to arrive at, what it thinks, is the proper exposure.  This averages out to be 18% grey. This works well for most scenes especially when photographing things in the mid-tone area - trees, grass, blue sky, etc. or when the scene is uniformly lit.
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Unfortunately, the full moon is a very bright object set against a sea of inky blackness. In an effort to compensate for all the darkness in the frame, your camera automatically overexposes the moon - resulting in that white dinner plate. 
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This photo clearly illustrates 'white dinner plate syndrome'. This was shot using the camera's default light metering mode. It brought out some great details in the clouds, but totally blew out all the features of the moon.
PictureSpot metering bases the exposure on a very small area of the scene. By default it is the very centre of the frame.
Capturing Just the Full Moon

If you are out during the next full moon and want to capture it with no other points of interest in the frame, the exposure issue is relatively easy to solve. Here are two methods to experiment with.
  1. Use spot metering. Instead of trying to determine the proper exposure for the entire scene, when you switch to spot metering the camera determines exposure based on the light in one spot, usually the centre of the frame. If you place the moon in the centre of your frame you should get a much more accurate reading. 
  2. Use exposure compensation. First, let's have a closer look at the camera settings I used for the first shot in this post.

     Camera: Olympus OMD - E-M1
     Lens: Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II
     Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority
     Metering: ESP
     Focal Length: 300mm (35mm equivalent - 600mm)
     Aperture: f/6.7
     ISO: 1000
     Shutter Speed: 1/4000 s
     Exposure Compensation: -5 EV

Two things are worth noting with regards to these settings.
1. The shutter speed is so fast that a tripod was not needed. I could have reduced my ISO significantly and still been able to hand hold the camera. Normally I always use a tripod when composing night sky shots. This illustrates just how bright a full moon is. 
2. More importantly is the exposure compensation. In order to bring out the details in the surface of the moon I dialled down the exposure by a full 5 stops of light. Exposure compensation is a way for you to override your camera's natural tendency to search for middle grey. 

Although spot metering seems easier, I usually find myself sticking with matrix metering and using exposure compensation. With the ergonomics of the Olympus E-M1 it takes no time to dial down the exposure compensation a few stops and the electronic viewfinder shows me the exact results I will I get. 

Photographing a Full Moon Scene

The real problem comes when trying to incorporate the full moon into a landscape scene. Now you have multiple objects to expose for. 

The situation is quite manageable if you are trying to photograph the moon as it rises. Most of the time the full moon rises just as the sun is setting. Therefore, there is enough light in the atmosphere to achieve a decent exposure setting and still capture some details in the moon. 
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Enough light from the setting sun allowed for a proper exposure without blowing out the highlights of the moon. Camera Settings: OMD E-M1, 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO, 1 s @ f/4.0, ISO 640
Picture
The sun had set about 20 minutes before the moon rose for this shot leaving enough light to capture the details of this lighthouse and the moon itself.
One issue that can creep into your moonrise shots is atmospheric distortion. The closer the moon is to the horizon the more atmosphere the light has to cut through. This creates a noticeably orange moon under many circumstances but also leads to significant distortion of the moon itself. The image below is an extreme version of this. 
Picture
Photographed only a few degrees above the horizon, the thicker atmosphere can really distort the shape of the moon.

Using  multiple  exposures

This leads me to the real purpose of this blog post - using the multiple exposure feature to create an impressive, and well-exposed image of the full moon. Why multiple exposure? Simple - it is next to impossible to create a balanced exposure of both the moon and the surrounding landscape once the sky darkens and, you can create a composition that places the moon where you want it to be. The following two images illustrate the results you can achieve using this technique. 

Picture
Picture
Before we get too technical, be aware that almost all modern digital cameras have the ability to create multiple exposures. For all of the multiple exposure images in this post I used the Olympus OMD E-M1. 

There are a few ways of achieving the above results, but the technique that works best for me is...
1. Photograph the moon with no other distractions in the frame.
2. Set the camera to multiple exposure mode.
3. Compose the second frame by placing your moon wherever you'd like and click the shutter.

Those are the condensed steps. Let's look at the more detailed procedure with regards to how I created the photograph below. 
Picture
PictureSettings - 300mm, 1/800s at f/6.7, ISO 800, -2 3/10 EV
Steps
Photograph the Moon
  1. I used the Olympus 75-300mm lens to zoom into the moon and adjusted exposure to bring out the details on the surface.
  2. I purposely positioned the moon in this location within the frame because I knew that I wanted the final image to have the moon framed within the branches of the white pine tree.

Set Multiple Exposure
  1. Enter Shooting Menu 2 and select Multiple Exposure.
  2. Select "Frame" and choose 2f.
  3. ​Select "Overlay" and turn it On.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Compose Your Second Frame
  1. Once you select "Overlay", all of your images will be displayed on the LCD. Select the moon photo that you just shot.
  2. You should see an overlay of the moon floating in your viewfinder or LCD which allows you to place it wherever you would like in your second frame. In the above example I placed it within the opening of the two branches. 
  3. Press the shutter release. Once the frame is exposed you should briefly see the resulting image.
  4. The overlay will remain active in your viewfinder until you hit Menu to turn it off or hit the Play button to view your images.  Have some fun creating new compositions. 
Picture
Frame 1 Settings - 300mm, ISO 1000, 1/400s at f/6.7, -4 EV; Frame 2 Settings - 12mm, ISO 1000, 20s at f/8.0
Auto Gain?
You may have noticed the Auto Gain setting within the Multiple Exposure menu. What is it?
Auto Gain is a built-in form of exposure compensation to help prevent overexposure of your final image. Essentially it cuts the exposure of both frames in half. For each of the images  posted in this blog I left auto gain in the default ON position but feel free to experiment by turning it off. 

Avoid the Edges!
When I first started using this technique I discovered one important issue that you should also be aware of. For each of my double exposure images above, you may have noticed that I positioned the moon near the center of the frame. This isn't simply an artistic choice. There is a very good reason for this. I like to switch lenses between frames. I will use my longest telephoto lens to capture the moon and then switch to a wide-angle lens (like the 12-40mm PRO) in order to capture a wider field of view and create a more interesting landscape image. The above image illustrates this well. The problem occurs when you position the moon in one of the corners of your frame or too close to the edge.

The photos below illustrate what happens if you position the moon in a corner and switch focal lengths. Placing the moon that you shot at a long focal length into a second frame taken at a short focal length, distorts the moon. Essentially it becomes a stretched oval. This is not an issue if the focal length remains the same for both frames as was the case for the lighthouse photo and the white pine photo above.  
Picture
Frame 1 - Shot at 40mm (80mm equivalent). Notice the lens cap looks perfectly round.
Picture
Frame 2 - This frame was shot at 12mm (24mm equivalent). Notice the lens cap appear slightly oval in shape.
Picture
This close-up illustrates the amount of distortion that occurs in the corners if you switch from telephoto to wide-angle.
And Now, Experiment!

The ability to create multiple exposures is certainly not new to photography and definitely not propriety to Olympus cameras. Most newer models of digital cameras have this setting and they all work in basically the same way. If you are looking for a way to add interest to your next shot of the full moon, try experimenting with multiple exposures. 
Picture
Frame 1 Settings: 150mm, ISO 800, 1/500 s at f/4.0, -3 EV; Frame 2 Settings: 12mm, ISO 800, 15s at f/2.8
One Final Note
There is one other technique that you can use to achieve well-exposed landscape shots that include the moon and that is bracketing. This involves taking several photographs at different exposure values and then combining them in Photoshop or other editing software. This is a common technique for creating HDR images during the daytime. Once I experiment with this technique a bit more I might write another post.
62 Comments
Nicholas
12/10/2015 02:37:17 am

Extremely great article my friend! Very well written and explained. I ordered the Olympus E-PM2 Sunday and in preparation of it being here tomorrow or Friday, I've been reading up. This will be my first Olympus camera. I have a LUMIX G5 and a Sony A6000!
I can't wait to try the overlay feature that I just learned from you.

Reply
Peter Baumgarten
12/10/2015 07:11:23 pm

Hi Nicholas. Thanks for the compliment! It is much appreciated. I hope you enjoy your new Olympus camera and have some good success with the multiple exposure feature.
Cheers!

Reply
Sherbi
4/26/2021 05:42:10 am

This is really awesome information ; I recently started experimenting with multiple exposure and love it . I love the part about switching to a wide angle lens fir a better field of view . Thank you for that information . I will definitely try this tonight . I’m hoping to get a few good shots . I have the 12-40 pro and the 40-150 pro lens also 2x teleconverter . Thanks again .

Taku link
12/16/2015 11:59:38 am

I found you through the latest Photo News magazine, and I'm glad I did. I've always wondered where to go shooting up around the Manatoulin Island area and I see you've done a lot of that. Thanks for a very thorough tutorial! I never thought of using the multiple exposure feature on my camera. It will be something new to play with this holiday season. :)

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Peter Baumgarten
12/16/2015 07:30:26 pm

Thank a bunch, Taku. I hope you have some good success experimenting with the multiple exposure feature. Cheers!

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Arthor Wright
1/7/2016 12:21:10 pm

Good article. Perfectly instructive. More, please :)

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J.R. Hoff
4/18/2016 09:28:41 am

Hello Mr. Baumgarten,
I sure hope you can set me on the right path to getting clean shots of the moon.

I am using an Olympus OM-D E-M10II with the 40-150mm lens. I set it initially at ISO 1000, F6.7, and 1/4000s with spot metering. I am seeing the "dinner plate", snapped a photo anyway and viewed it on the computer. It actually was in focus on the bottom and a little blurry 3/4 of the way to the top. This has me perplexed.

I have tried different settings with all the same results, tripod mounted or hand held no difference. Cannot focus the moon.

Another weird item I am seeing through the lens is not only the "dinner plate" but a ghostly image of the moon next to it...something I could try and focus on but not all the way as it was hard to see. When I snapped the photo it was the same as above.

Why can't I see the moon focused through the lens? Am I doing something wrong??? Faulty equipment??? Everything is brand new (less than a week old).

J.R. Hoff

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Peter
4/18/2016 01:19:09 pm

Hello J.R.
I'd like to rule out faulty equipment first by asking if your camera and lens are producing good results under other conditions, i.e. daylight conditions? Are things in focus using the EVF or LCD?

Here are some other questions/comments that might help;
1. Which shooting mode are you using? (A,S,M,P?)
2. Are you aware that the spot metering is in the centre of the frame, i.e. the moon has to be in the centre of your composition in order to get accurate metering?
3. Try using matrix metering and bring down your exposure compensation several stops. I usually shoot the moon in Aperture priority. With the 40-150 lens I would likely set my ISO to 800, aperture to f/4.0 and let the camera decide on the shutter speed. The moon is so bright that it would be a fairly easy shot to handhold. In order to avoid the 'dinner plate' I would bring the EV down several stops - sometimes as low as -5.

If you like, you can send me a copy of the image and I can have a look at it.

Cheers!

Peter

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J.R. Hoff
4/18/2016 09:58:43 pm

Thanks for the reply Peter. I was shooting in the manual mode.

As you suggested I switched to Aperture priority, set the ISO to 800, aperture to F4.0, set the EV to -5 and Voilà, I could focus on the moon with no "dinnerplate".

Thank you so much!

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David
4/4/2021 09:17:07 pm

Another consideration is whether you have a UV filter mounted? I'm not suggesting you should, but rather that it is common to use these as "lens protectors", but depending upon quality, etc., at the very least they can create unwanted reflections in high contrast shots. I'm too much of a wuss myself to take mine off when I should, and have the "shots that are almost good" to prove it!

Kleijn
1/5/2021 04:19:31 pm

That is a setting you can change, so it is follow your focus point. Robbie Wong have make a video on that

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Peter Bye
4/24/2021 08:39:21 pm

The moon does not have to be in the center of the image. With spot metering, at least with the E-M1 Mk III, you can move the auto-focus spot over the moon, wherever it is in the image area, and the spot meter uses the same spot for metering.

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Ronald I Philbrook
5/22/2016 03:29:35 pm

Hello Peter i was trying to take some moon shots with my new OMD em-10 Olympus and got the great Dinner Plate In The Sky . i was using Shutter priority and got disappointing results no matter the shutter speed setting . I took other pictures using my E-500 camera and got great picture results . Having just read your blog on Moon Shots , i have made some adjustments to the metering system and will try again . Would it be better to go Manual Setting or stay with the Shutter Speed Priority ? i will keep you posted on the results ! Cheers : Ron Philbrook

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Peter Baumgarten
5/23/2016 07:59:14 am

Hi Ron,

Remember that when photographing the moon, the matrix metering will try to average out the entire scene. This causes the moon to brighten up and form the 'dinner plate'. You need to force a lower exposure by using exposure compensation. I typically favour Aperture Priority for most of my daytime images and it will work just fine for shooting the moon. Try using a large aperture (e.g. f/4.0) and dial down the EV several stops. I have dialled it down as much as -5.0 EV with good results. You can also switch to spot metering, but remember that the effective 'spot' is in the centre of the frame.

I hope that helps.

Cheers!

Reply
Caleb
6/15/2016 11:54:16 am

Hello! This is an awesome post!!
I'm using the EM5 Mark II and I was wondering if I can shoot the moon at 150mm using the pro lens and then switch to the 12-40mm and still have the images overlaid? (I assume I need to switch off the camera and change the lenses right?) thanks a lot((:

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Peter Baumgarten
6/15/2016 03:59:01 pm

Hi Caleb,
You can absolutely switch lenses. Turning off the camera while switching is advisable (although I have to admit I regularly forget to do this).
Thanks for the comment. Cheers!

Reply
Patty Campbell
6/20/2016 05:39:44 pm

Hello Peter,
I have a EM5mark2. When I go to multiple exposure I am able to select 2f, but then the overlay button is greyed out. I went to my camera store and they couldn't select overlay. We tried on an omd 10mark2 as well without success. I've tried in manual and in aperture. Any advice?

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Peter
6/21/2016 06:43:59 am

Hi Patty,
There are times when features are greyed out because of a particular setting you are using. I have tried to emulate your situation on my E-M5II. The only time I had a greyed-out overlay button was when there were no photos on the memory card (this makes sense of course, since there are no photos on the card to overlay). If this isn't the cause, check your super control panel and make sure you don't have any special features engaged. For example, I know some features are not available when using burst mode.
If you still have no success then try updating the firmware.
Cheers!

Reply
Terry
6/25/2016 06:19:58 pm

I believe you may need raw images to do an overlay. Check if you are just shooting pegs. I had the same problem at first.

Terry
6/25/2016 06:17:15 pm

Thanks for the great post. You inspired me to try it out. Great fun !

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Nelson
8/12/2016 12:21:04 pm

Hello Peter, thank you so much for the guidance. I just learned about spot metering from you. However, the Overlay function in my Olympus e-Pl 6 seems to be disabled. Is the function not available for this model?

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Dens
8/28/2016 10:34:26 am

Hi Peter,
How to adjust the density (transparency) of a certain layer in multiple exposure? I don't see even close result to yours. Is it something for post processing? Will LR recognize that there are two layers?

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Dens
8/29/2016 12:24:41 pm

Peter, just tried this function at home with lens' cap put on another background. The cap is covered by white mask - like on your pictures... How to make it 100% visible?

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Pamela
9/14/2016 01:24:43 am

Peter, I wonder if you can help me take better pictures of the Moon, Sunset or just about, anything. I got my camera recently as a gift ( it is an E-PL1, I also received an M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150 mm lens, for my Birthday. Please help me to take better pictures. I am trying, but seem to be taking a lot of blurry ones. Thanks for your feedback !!!

Reply
Peter
9/14/2016 08:22:59 am

Hi Pamela,
If you are fairly new to photography then I would suggest you start with the various Scene modes available on most Olympus cameras. They usually guarantee good success. I might then move to using the P mode. This gives you a bit more control over exposure, but lets the camera make most of the decisions. I am not familiar with the E-PL1, but blurry photos generally arise from two situations. 1. camera movement when using a shutter speed that is too slow. 2. Have a subject out of focus. To resolve the first one make sure your shutter speed is high enough for hand held photos (usually 1/60s or greater). For the second situation make sure that the autofocus is working properly.
Photography is a journey, not a destination. It sounds cliche, I know, but with continued practice your photos will improve. As well, continue reading books and blog posts on photography and only practice one or two things at a time until you have mastered them.
Cheers!

Reply
Christy Joel
11/12/2016 03:23:23 am

A very simple and precise article. Tried the settings on Omd Em1 . I learned. Thanks for helping.

Reply
Peter
11/13/2016 08:17:28 am

Hi Christy,
I'm pleased that you found the article useful. I hope you get some great shots of the moon.
Cheers!

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J.R. Hoff
11/12/2016 07:13:48 am

Reply
Cindy Karchner link
11/13/2016 08:28:47 pm

Hi Peter, i was suffering from "dinner plate syndrome." I followed your instructions using my 40-150 with 1.4x teleconverter and voila, I can now actually see detail in a shot similar to your first pic, handheld, with my omd em1. Can't wait to try the other tips! Thanks so much for sharing your expertise!

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Peter
11/13/2016 09:13:47 pm

So glad it worked for you, Cindy.

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Chris Evans
11/13/2016 11:55:58 pm

Hi Peter awesome useful article thanks very much. We have the big moon here tonight that I wanted to photograph and now I know how. Cheers Chris Evans

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Evan Spellman link
12/24/2016 08:09:43 pm

Peter
Thank you for the informative articles!
I've had the em1 since it came out and didn't have a clue about composing moon landscapes it always amazes me how much is packed into those workhorse cameras.
All the best for 2017

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Savannah link
9/5/2017 07:02:36 am

Hi for some reason you cant go on or pres overlay and I don't now how to fix it

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Greg Rubstello
1/1/2018 05:43:04 pm

I am wondering about what happens when you switch lenses between shots. Do you leave the camera on? Do you have too in order to maintain the multiple exposure setting?

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Ann
1/5/2018 02:26:58 am

Thank you very easy to follow and very useful

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ken
1/13/2018 09:07:51 pm

Hi Peter,
I fall in love with many photos in your blog,fantastic,characteristics....no words enough meanings to describe your works.
I just bought Olympus pen F with Olympus Pro 7-14mm f2.8 weather proof Zoom and Olympus 75-300mm Zoom.I want to take moon photos like you said in your blog.Problem is that I have overlay feature is greyed out.I read your reply to Patty Campbell.Problem could be no photos on memory card to overlay,or the super control panel have any special features engaged that prohibit to overlay.I try to change memory card with many photos.Overlay feature is still greyed out.Control panel has may features,I did spend time nearly one week to change around features.Overlay feature is still greyed out.Would you please tell me any specific feature in super control panel make me can not use overlay feature.I did try Raw images too.I hope you can reply to me.Thanks very much.
Kind Regards,
Ken.

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Santosh
4/2/2018 01:06:46 am

Ken,

Just shoot the image in raw. If your memory card have images in jpeg format only; overlay function will be greyed out. Just shoot as many photos in raw as you can. Once you go for overlay options; all the raw images will be displayed.

Thanks and share your excellent photos.

Regards,
Santosh

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urs wiggli
4/12/2019 04:07:28 pm

endlich sehr gute tips

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Nikon COOLPIX B500 black friday link
10/21/2019 05:30:44 am

I’m impressed, I must say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The issue is something that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.

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Les
4/5/2020 03:55:19 pm

Hi Peter,

Quick question about moon-shot/multiple-exposure: I assume the second shot needs to have a clear sky, not a wide angle shot with the moon still in the frame. Is this correct?

BTW, your blogs are great.

Cheers,
Les

Reply
Peter Baumgarten
4/6/2020 07:46:56 am

Hi Les,
You are correct. Unless you want multiple moons in the image (which could be interesting) you would want to ensure that your second shot does not include the moon in it.
Thanks for the comment about my blog.
Cheers!

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Diane Lewis
4/5/2020 08:20:55 pm

I am most interested in trying the multiple exposure using overlay in aperture mode as you suggested in your article No shooting the moon. However, no matter what I do, "overlay" is grayed out & I cannot use it. In the manual, I also found instructions on page 107 for using image overlay by "editing" the picture and selecting image overlay, but there is no image overlay in my edit menu for a picture. Can you please tell me what I can do to get the overlay feature to work? I can't believe that this feature is unavailable in the Mark II camera, as it was available in the Mark I. Any aadvice you might have would be most appreciated!

Reply
Peter Baumgarten
4/6/2020 07:52:56 am

Hi Diane,
By default, "Overlay" is greyed out in the menu. First you have to select the "Number of Frames" (Choose 2f). Then "Overlay" should no longer be greyed out. Try that and see if it works.
Cheers!

Reply
Diane Lewis
4/6/2020 02:07:25 pm

Yes, thank you for your response. However, I have selected 2f over and over and Overlay still remains greyed out. There must be a solution to this but I cannot figure it out! Thanks for any other suggestions you may have. I am most anxious to try this! I have written to Olympus, too, but have not heard back.

Peter Baumgarten
4/6/2020 02:28:52 pm

Hi Diane,
Send me all the details of your camera settings, lens, shooting mode and I'll try to troubleshoot it for you. Send it to my e-mail - creativeislandphoto.com. Based on past experience it is probably a simple setting that needs to change and it will work just fine.

Les
4/5/2020 09:38:41 pm

I accidentally unsubscribed because I assumed the link in the first paragraph of the email I received would take me to the reply on the blog. Instead, it unsubscribed me. The third link in the email offered to unsubscribe me again That is too weird that two out of the three links would unsubscribe an unsuspecting user.

Anyway, posting another message seems to be the only way to resubscribe. .

Reply
Jim Watkins
4/6/2020 11:45:59 am

Olympus had a link yesterday to this 5 year old post for shooting the moon. Was hoping to see an update on how the new Starry Sky AF functions in the EM1 MkIII would work with this?

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Andrea de Polo
4/16/2020 01:23:06 pm

Hi, I have a Pen-F and a 100-300mm f/4-5,6 Panasonic OIS lens. When I try to shoot the full moon in manual mode, on a tripod, it is very hard to make the moon in focus. Trough the electronic view finder it is still seen way too bright (even if I low down the screen lighing in my Pen-F).
Enlarging the moon 2X or so on the viewfinder helps a bit but not too much.

Any other tip to bright the moon lighting down?

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Jay
4/21/2020 07:32:01 am

Hi Peter,
Thanks for this artical.
Is there some way of correcting the transparency of the shot?
When I overlay I can see through the moon shot.

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vijay
5/7/2020 03:38:22 pm

liked ur article.
But i am not able to turn on the overlay button. its greyed out.
what could be the problem

Reply
Ron B
5/8/2020 01:18:13 pm

Peter - I have a question about your 1st moon shot above. Your settings were:

Camera: Olympus OMD - E-M1
Lens: Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority
Metering: ESP
Focal Length: 300mm (35mm equivalent - 600mm)
Aperture: f/6.7
ISO: 1000
Shutter Speed: 1/4000 s
Exposure Compensation: -5 EV

You shot in Aperture Priority - yet your Shutter Speed was 1/4000. How were you able to achieve this? If I switch from AP to Shutter Speed, I can dial in 1/4000 and all my other setting match you. A little confused.

Really appreciate your time explaining your shooting styles!!

Reply
Margaret W Lee
7/6/2020 11:35:16 am

Hi, Peter,

I've taken some of your courses at NECCC and thoroughly enjoyed them. Was very sorry NECCC 2020 had to be cancelled, as was looking forward to learning more from you there.

My camera is the M1 Mark 2, the lenses are the 40-150mm pro, 12-40 pro, 100-300 mm Panasonic. I was looking at your post for moon shots using overlay. It seems that between your first and second shots, whether using the same lens or switching lenses, you didn't change the ISO or the EV settings. Could you please tell me what the mechanics and rational are?

Another thing I noticed last night when using Overlay - The spot focus indicator didn't turn green until I was actually taking the shot. Is that a built in thing? I can't tell if what I want in focus is spot-on. I also couldn't change the focal point to the item I wanted in focus on the second shot - ie switch from the moon to a teddy bear in the foreground.

Thank you.

Margaret

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Larry Kurfis
3/26/2021 07:49:47 am

Thanks for a great article. I assume that when you change lens when multiple exposure you leave the camera on.
Are there any concerns leaving power on when changing lens?

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Virginia Reader
5/24/2021 01:33:04 pm

The moon is a highly detailed object. Why not put the camera on a *stable* tripod and use the high resolution mode to allow the full resolution of the lens to be seen? I will be using an E-M5mk2 and the 75-300 zoom, probably at about 250mm.

I could put an old 400mm/6.3 T-mount lens on instead. Surprisingly that nearly 50 year old off-brand Petzval lens is very sharp. Your advice?

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Peter Bye
5/24/2021 02:00:39 pm

Virginia Reader,

I tried this with an E-M1 Mark III and the new 100-400 lens with the MC20 teleconverter and also with the 75-300. It did not work well. The result were more blurred than a single image at standard resolution.

The tripod-mounted high-res mode takes eight exposures in rapid succession, shifting the sensor for each image. The best explanation I have heard is that the moon literally moves so much in the time it takes to get those eight exposures that the result is more blurred than a single image.

I suppose if you have a motor drive on your tripod that compensates for the earth's rotation high-resolution mode may work better.

Then again, perhaps your result will differ!

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Virginia Reader
5/24/2021 02:08:56 pm

Thanks; it’s certainly possible that the moon moves more than the width of a pixel in the time it takes to shoot 8 frames. Although it wouldn’t be too hard to calculate how far it does move. I don’t have a star-tracking motor drive. I did once long ago.

That might also compromise the sharpness of an HDR shot of the moon.

Exposures: We do know what the exposure for the center of the full moon should be: the old Sunny-16 rule applies since the moon is the same distance from the Sun as Earth. And we know the albedo (reflectance) of the lunar regolith isn’t far from 18%.

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Anne
5/24/2021 05:59:10 pm

Hi Peter,

I don’t own the 40-150 Pro, only the cheaper version. What aperture do you suggest using, or should I use the 75f1.8 and crop? Thanks, Anne

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Peter
5/24/2021 06:52:30 pm

Hi Anne,
With the 40-150mm f/4-5.6, you can still get some nice images of the moon. Zoom in to 150mm and keep your aperture at f/5.6. The important thing is to maintain a fairly fast shutter speed, at least 1/125s. You should be able to keep your ISO fairly low (400 or less) If you are photographing the eclipse that should be easy to do for most of the night until the moon darkens too much. Then you will have to really up your ISO and slow your shutter speed. You may have to go all the way to ISO6400 and 1/2s. Those are approximations so you may have to make some adjustments while shooting. I hope that helps.

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Virginia Reader
5/24/2021 07:13:47 pm

I would use a tripod rather than hand-holding. No matter how good the IBIS is, a rigid tripod is better. And since the sharp edges of lunar craters are what will give the picture character, I find it’s better to stop down one or two stops, at least, and not to use an inexpensive zoom at its maximum focal length.

My own experiments with the 75-300 put 250-275 mm focal length as where sharpness degrades. While the full moon makes a pretty shot, the mountains and craters along the day-night dividing line when the moon is a couple of days before or after full often make more interesting photos than the flat lighting at full moon.

Even near totality, I don’t think the moon darkens by more than a factor of 100, so 6.5 stops more light needed. But you want the pictures at totality to show a darker moon than before the eclipse starts, so at totality don’t open up more than about 4-5 stops!

Derek de la Harpe link
5/26/2021 02:45:37 pm

Hi Peter. I love your blog, this post in particular, which made me very keen to get out and shoot tonight’s blood moon, using the two shot exposure you outlined above. When I did, a couple of practical problems I wasn’t expecting arose:

- in order to get the moon sufficiently high in the sky to shoot the first image without any other clutter, I had to wait until the moon was reasonably high in the sky;
- by then, the foreground was very dark, too dark to actually shoot the second image without a lot of artificial light;
- in any event, I would need to wait until the moon had risen so high that it wouldn’t appear in the second image, thus creating a double moon situation.

My conclusion, based on the above, is that it is probably best to shoot the second image on a different night, when I can ensure the foreground is better lit, and the moon still below the horizon. So, my question: how far apart were the two exposures taken for the two images you showed us in the post? I had the impression it was almost immediate, but my experience this evening suggests that it not possible. Or have I misunderstood something in the work flow.

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lumi inko dye link
8/27/2021 12:27:56 pm

Tinsel town celebrities have always been the trend setters to the common people. People, especially the girls always are inclined towards one or more actresses because of how they look and they also want to look the same. More or less everyone have a fashion idol.

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Ward Wueste
7/15/2022 08:28:33 pm

Peter, I enjoy your tips and have found them useful. I recently acquired an 0M-1 and tried to do double exposure. The menu doesn't have an option for Frame and I was never able to make a double exposure. The shutter wouldn't work for the second image. I am wondering whether you have used the OM-1 for double exposures and had the same result.

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    Peter Baumgarten is a professional photographer and educator. He is also an Olympus Visionary and NiSi Official Photographer. 

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