Just for fun, my last moon shots of 2022 and first of 2023. No special effort, the moon just happened to be up when I was chasing waterfowl shots so I took a few moon shots between flights.


^^^New Year's Eve, December 31, 2022. The moon phase was Waxing Gibbous, 72 percent illuminated. Distance was 385,996 km.


^^^My first moon shot of 2023, January 5. Just as the ducks were flying back to the roost at sunset, the nearly full moon rose for the first time of the year. It was 99 percent illuminated at a distance of 403,794 km.

You have a fantastic eye, camera, and lens, sir.

That he does!

that 2nd pic looks like a Texas heart shot

Excellent work

Awesome pics

wow!

Thanks. Moon shots are fun. Long fast glass sure helps but anyone with a wildlife/sports lens with at least 200mm of reach and a tripod or rest, can get a good shot of the moon. More reach is better.

Keep in mind, most automatic settings will overexpose the moon so shoot in manual mode. Also, the shorter reach your lens has, say 200mm vs 500mm, the more you'll likely crop so use the lowest ISO setting possible to get the best details without noise.

Another trick that will also help with both moon and your long range wildlife shots is to figure out what f/stop your longest reach lens is sharpest at. Few take the time to do this simple test but it makes a huge difference. Long, fast pro 500 and 600mm glass is usually sharpest wide open at f/4 because that works best for the locations most pro sports are played in but since most people don't have pro glass, take some test shots at a fixed object at various f/stop settings to see where your lens is sharpest. Best to do this as controlled as possible on a tripod. Put the camera in aperture mode and click off a series of shots at various f/stops from wide open, say f/2.8 to f/16. Most likely it will be sharpest around f/8 but each lens is different. Study the shots on your monitor and see which ones are the sharpest in the center since that is where you'll likely be focused for the moon and wildlife. Make a note of this so you can remember to try to use that f/stop for wildlife and moon shots when possible when using that lens and you want to nail focus.

Here's a link to a good article on Canon's site that dives deeper into how to get the shot. Photographing The Moon and Moonlit Landscapes. Also, good glass can last a lifetime. I have some glass that I purchased over 20 years ago that is still great so don't be afraid to buy used pro glass. The only downside is some won't have the fastest auto focus compared to the latest greatest but the image quality is often much better than kit lenses that come with most camera bodies and you can get the pre-owned pro glass and bodies at a fraction of the price they cost new.