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Great Series of Photos of Airplane crossing the Full Moon

Airplane captured crossing the Full Moon in Oregon

Airplane captured crossing the Full Moon in Oregon

We had a wonderful Full Moon rising in the East the other night.

Then I remembered there is a flight path in that part of the sky with airplanes heading from LA to Portland Airport to the North and decided to try get a plane flying across the moon!

I rushed out with my Canon 5D Mark III with a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens and 1.4X Teleconverter (to get a little extra reach). ** NOTE: the amazing Canon 5D Mark IV is out in 3 DAYS but if you don’t need the extra resolution ( 30.4 MP versus 22.3 with the Mark III), touchscreen, or 4K Video (along with a bunch of other enhancements) then the Mark III is still an awesome camera and will save you US$1000!

Back to the moon…

I had the camera on a tripod and waited for about 20 minutes (as you probably know Patience is a big factor in photography) – one airplane flew by too low to position myself to get it in front of the moon – then another 15 minutes or so passed and a saw an airplane coming out from the south behind some Douglas fir trees that looked like it could intersect with the moon.

I should mention that I had taken a few test shots of the moon first – the counter intuitive part of taking moon photos is that your exposure is more similar to a Daytime shot! (NOT a Night Photo). I had settled on Aperture f/4.5 at ISO 400 and a Shutter Speed of 1/1000 sec. Plenty fast enough to freeze the airplane movement.

Also, White Balance was set to Daylight!

NOTE: You do need to use Manual Exposure as the moon was not large enough in the frame to get a correct exposure (the camera was overexposing the shot in Aperture Priority mode as the moon was surrounded by pitch black! – the photos above are Crops of the original images).

So the airplane was heading towards the moon and I was frantically re-positioning the tripod to get a shot where I thought they would intersect. A few seconds before the airplane actually passed the moon I know I had the right position for the airplane trajectory…

then with High Speed shutter release mode I rattled off about 6 shots…

It was hard to tell how well I had aligned the shoot until I reviewed the images after and zoomed in on the moon…

Of course, I was super happy how the series came out 🙂

I definitely view photography as a fun adventure and this was a very rewarding little test. I guess that was one of the reasons I started my new Digital Photography Insiders program (https://dpinsiders.com) – to take people on a Journey of Photographic Discovery (and experimentation) – where you can learn the basics you need and then develop your skills and style through trying things out. DPinsiders is currently closed for enrollment but you can join the Waiting List by CLICKING HERE and ensure you get notified immediately when I open doors again (and get an exclusive subscriber only deal).

 

 

 

Archive

Fireworks Photo Video Tutorial and CheatSheet

 

4Th of July is upon us! With it comes plenty of FIREWORKS and opportunities to get great Colorful Fireworks Photos.

One of the Biggest Challenges with photographing Fireworks is the Best results usually require shooting on Manual Mode…. yes Manual Exposure (*insert ominous music here*).

… however, with simple steps you can totally move your Camera into Manual Mode and start experimenting with your camera settings for more Creative Photos.

Night Photos, and Firework Photos specifically, are a great way to start experimenting with Manual Exposure.

To help you a little I have created this Free Video above and Fireworks Photo Cheat Sheet Below. Go through the Video and Download the Cheat Sheet (Right Click on the Image and choose “Save as…” to download a larger version).

I go a lot more into Transitioning to Manual Exposure in my EasyDSLR Blue Membership Course (CLICK HERE FOR A SPECIAL) – if you don’t already have that Digital Photography training course you may find it super useful – especially if you are wanting to get off AUTO.

Archive

Photography is a Journey not a Destination

journeynotdestinationPhotography has always been about enjoying the journey for me, I guess that’s why I have a camera on every trip 🙂

As part of my journey and as a way to share what I’ve learned with others I am opening up My New Digital Photography Program…

It’s called Digital Photography Insiders (DPinsiders) and is going to be a Journey of Photography Discovery where members get weekly video training and inspiration as well as Live monthly Q&A calls.

I am excited to to bring this program to people and give them an opportunity to embark on this Journey with me – I have spent a couple of years thinking through how I can make this program most effective.

The essence has been distilled into 3 main strategies I use to help enthusiasts and beginners progress in their photography:

  1. The Power of Triangles (Power of 3)
  2. Kaizen – small achievable steps
  3. 80:20 – the Pareto Principle where 80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts

I did an inside launch early this year and am getting great feedback from the early members and I am confident now to have the public launch.

Click the link below to learn more and Register for the Launch (you will get the significant launch discount as well).

Click here to find out more about DPinsiders