Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Clare de Lune, Or, Why I Love My New Camera Body

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The photo above and this well-known tune by Claude Debussy are the reasons for the horrible attempt at a joke in Monday's "Tomorrow" blurb. However, it was also a technical experiment.

I scored a Canon 5D Mark II last month and I want to tell you, I am smitten. Its highest resolution RAW file gives you an image of astonishing clarity, weighing in at 21 MB a shot. So, on Sunday night, I went down to the riverfront to shoot the rising full moon.

Photographing the moon well isn't easy, so I read up on it. The advice I found was conflicting. This picture was shot at ISO 400, f 16, 1/20th sec. I used spot light metering and
mirror lock-up. Of course, the camera was on a tripod and I used a shutter cable release, all to minimize vibration. My longest lens is Canon's 100-400 mm L series, so I used it at max extension. It's not nearly long enough. The image you see above it perhaps five percent of the original shot, a very tight crop. It's not perfectly sharp but not bad IMHO. Pretty good camera.


WHAT I ORDERED FROM AMAZON: some orchestral excerpts from Wagner operas. The St. Louis Symphony had an opera-oriented program last weekend, ending with four selections from the Ring cycle. It swings from bliss to despair to heart-pounding majesty.

TOMORROW:
more lunacy, perhaps.



There is a new Arch photo today on Gateway,
also shot on Sunday night.

11 comments:

brattcat said...

Oh,man, this is a fantastic image! Congratulations! It brings back all the wonder and awe I felt the day of first lunar landing.

Olivier said...

superbe photo avec ton nouvel APN de classe. Je vais changer d'APN dans l'année et j'hésite entre ce canon ou le Nikon D700.

beautiful photo with your new camera class. I will change APN in the year and I hesitate between the Canon or the Nikon D700.

Knoxville Girl said...

Bob, this is amazing! I expect to see the little flag from the first lunar landing on your next shot.

Virginia said...

I thought I got a glimpse of some astronauts playing golf. Maybe not.

I tried a moon shot last month. Big fat dud. Yours is gorgeous.
V

Sharon said...

Okay Bob, I am officially jealous of your photography talents and equipment. This is spectacular. I am so impressed.

Bettey said...

Just gorgeous. Congrats on the new "toy"!

Pat said...

beautiful shot. can't wait to see more.

Judy said...

Well, that beats my moon shot on Sunday's post all to heck!!
Fantastic!!

Anonymous said...

I can almost reach out and touch it! Beautiful.

Pat said...

Ever see the film Moonstruck? Great film. Cher's Italian grandfather admires the moon on several occasions, saying, "La luna, la bella luna," and he would have been overjoyed with yours. I missed the opportunity to do the moon this month, and will continue my practice next time!

Anonymous said...

what an amazing shot! and what an amazing camera...im a budding photographer and i also want to get my hands on a mark II... again.. nice shot!

mac