Shooting the moon (with a new camera)

Last night the moon was in a slightly less than 1/4 phase, and it served as a useful target for my new camera.

It's a Canon Digital Rebel XT, and it has a lot of neat features.  Too many, really.  The first SLR camera I owned was a fully manual Canon TLb.  It's a relic from a much simpler time when you decided the film speed at the store, and all there was to worry about was the shutter speed and an aperture setting made easy by the built in light meter.  But it's a Model "T" by today's standards.

Here are a couple of shots of last night's moon with the new camera.  I like the one in the twilight setting because you can see the whole moon.  There's that pesky reflection hanging off the left hand side, however.  After dark it begins to look like a real moon, with craters and everything.

The camera is a lot smarter than I am.  I'm still very much an amateur, and that status isn't likely to change soon, but it's fun experimenting with some of the settings.  With a lot of practice and a whole lot of luck, then maybe some day, not tomorrow, not the next day, but someday, I might be able to take a decent photograph.

Comments

[Eric]

I got a Digital XT a couple of months ago and I still haven't mastered a fraction of its capabilities. But the great thing about shooting digital is that you can experiment to your heart's content, get immediate feedback, and it costs you nothing except your time (and pride, if you're as inept as me).

I ordered the tiny remote control so that I can put the camera on a tripod, ratchet the shutter speed down to molasses-velocity, and take pics without the slightest jostle. Unfortunately, that in itself hasn't proven sufficient for the production of a decent low-light photo.

[Geo]

Yeah, Eric. There are some nifty accessories available. At the top of my wish list is the battery/grip to make it a little easier to grab the camera without accidentally pressing buttons.