I went for a look at the moon last night using the DJI Mini 4 P. Looking at the result I’m thinking a good idea, poorly executed. The moon, I think, was too bright for the rest of the sky. I’m no photographer, so would an ND filter have helped, and if so what sort of strength? Any advice greatfully received.
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An ND filter is unlikely to have helped. It there any detail in the scene other than the moon? It looks like a photo of the moon above a bank of fog, is that what it was?
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Yes, things came together to get a view across the bank. I was thinking a filter might have quietened the moon and allow greater exposure of the cloud.
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The camera on auto will try to compensate for the filter and do it’s best to give you the same photo that you have above. Alternatively if you switch to manual to darken the moon you will also darken the rest of the photo (with or without a filter)
If you want a darker moon and brighter fog then try the AEB mode which will give you up to 5 shots at different exposures. These can then be merged in software to give a HDR image with a darker moon and brighter fog.
Your image would benefit from something sticking through the fog as a focal point in the bottom part of the image.
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Thank you, that is really helpful. On the composition, I can see exactly what you mean, but, alas, you only get what you get.
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I think manual focus helps in the dark. Hold your finger on the MF button and then setvthecfocus on the mountain symbol.
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When taking moon photos the automatic exposure is overwhelmed by the brightness of the moon. Manual exposure is the best option. With a DSLR I use sensitivity 400-800, f8 and 1/500 - 1/1000 sec.
You may need a ND filter if you can’t get a good exposure. I haven’t tried night photography with a drone yet.
The settings vary according to the contrast between the dark sky and bright moon. Most, if not all, camera exposure metering systems cannot cope with a dark sky and bright moon. A degree of experimentation is required to find your go to settings.
Unless you start using things such as graduated filters, an ND filter that tones down the moon would have the same effect on everything else in the frame. As you can’t control the aperture, you have the choice of altering ISO or shutter speed. To get detail in the moon and whatever else, you’ll need two exposures - one for the moon and one for everything else and then merge them in software.
The bracket option as mentioned earlier effectively gives you a selection of exposures but you may need a bigger variation than that provided by bracketing.
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Apologies to other commenters if I have missed something they have already mentioned.
Part time astrophotographer here.
- the moon is very very bright, you will need to use manual controls to reduce the shutter speed, etc to get a decent exposure
- with a typical wide angle lens, it’s going to look somewhat small; not much you can really do
- single exposures are ok but read on, dear reader…
Lunar and planetary imagers tend to use a large number of exposures, typically by using video instead of stills, then use software to filter out the poorer stills, which are caused by wobble in the atmosphere. The remaining stills are then stacked to get a higher quality image. I used to use a webcam of all things, and the software, Registax, was free.
Has anyone tried this from a drone shot video? It would be interesting to see what is possible.
EDIT - and yes if you want other parts of the shot exposed properly, you will be looking at merging different images with different exposure settings.
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