Moon Photography

August 27, 2026

August 27, 2026

July 28, 2026

This is an opportunistic picture on July 9, 2026, 4:15a taking pics of the ISS

June 29, 2026 100% moon - First image with the AF-S Nikkor 200-500 f5.6 G ED VR

Third try, making progress. I just quickly set up the tripod and set the f stop to 11, ISO to 100 and let the camera auto focus. I forgot to turn on focus peaking and zoom in on live view. I’ll get it but this shot represents five minutes out of my head instead of the 30 minutes of anguish trying to get a sharp image like last time. I have to change the white balance to tungsten, I want a better gray scale. 

I’m trying…

Third try, much faster in configuration…

I’m learning how to set up the camera much faster. I am more familiar with the controls and each aspect of how to take a picture of the moon. I used the Reflex C 500mm and the ED 300mm lenses tonight. I’m starting to think about using the F3 too, I’m not far off at my first attempts at film.

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2nd Try, the Strawberry Moon - Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at 9:45p

Tonight was my second try. I spent about an hour figuring out how to make the display show exactly what the image will be. Enlarged the image, focus it sharp. Optimize white balance, color, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and more. I’m learning by doing. Reading, watching videos. 

Anyway the below is last night first try, above is from tonight, second try. It’s a good lesson as I’m learning the menus, sub menus, control over my digital camera, photography.

Thirtieth image with the Nikon D780 with AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR FX

I thought it would be easy. Simple as changing a few settings. What it taught me is that I don’t know how to quickly change basic camera controls. I got close but the image is not sharp. The above picture is the result of about an hour and a half of figuring it all out. How to put it in manual mode, set aperture to f11, shutter speed to 1/125 sec, iso to 100, VR (Vibration Reduction) off, Auto Focus off, Manual Focus on, Live View on… 

There are other deeper settings that I had to adjust.

And now back out and place the camera back to its original settings.

But I’m really enjoying learning basic function, learning how to take pictures of the moon. Next attempt will be much quicker and I’ll focus on a sharper image.

First Try, Second Photo 

First Try, First Photo

camera | lens | film | flash | links | images

Moon Photography

Photographing the ISS

Rocket Photography

Photography Basics

My Current Photography Kit

Nikon Lens Scope Converter

I purchased the Nikon Lens Scope Converter to use for three distinct uses, one for astronomy, two, use as a spotting scope for shooting and third, for wildlife viewing. In a couple of weeks, I’ll take it to our beach house rental and look for sea life such as whales and dolphins. I also want to see if I can illustrate the curvature of the earth with photographs of distant coastal buildings and or shipping vessels far out to sea.

What made me interested in the lens converter was the purchase of the Nikon Reflex-Nikkor • C 500mm f/8 Telephoto Lens. It is a lens with the basic construction of a reflecting telescope such as the Hubble Space Telescope. This lens had piqued my interest in seeing just what I could see through it with the lens converter because additionally, it magnifies the lens once applied by a factor of x10.

I had initially read about the Nikon Lens Scope Converter as well as the Nikon Nikkor Reflex C 500mm f8 from Ken Rockwell. The interest in pointing my Nikon D780 skyward has always been one that I wanted to develop and already I had completed my first attempts at Moon photography with my AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR FX. However, the Lens Scope Converter will not work with G series lenses due to the mechanical engagement to open the aperture. G series lenses aperture operation is electronic, the application of the Lens Scope Converter is mechanical. There are modification instructions available online to use the Lens Scope Converter with G series Nikkor lenses.

Anyway, I have two other 300mm lenses that I’ll try the Lens Scope Converter with, the Nikkor ED IF 300mm f4.5 AIS and the Zoom Nikkor 100-300 f5.6 AIS. The ED lens has a tripod mount where as the Zoom is a hand held. I’ve tried to hand hold the Reflex lens with no useable results as the magnification is far too great to actually keep a subject in the narrow field of view, steady for any reasonable amount of time. The magnification accentuates movement. 

The Lens Scope Converter is an F-Mount device so I’ll try some of my shorter focal length lenses just for fun.

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Resources

Ken Rockwell Nikon Lens Scope Converter
Nikon Rumors - How to Convert Your Nikon Lens into a Telescope or a Microscope
The Noisy Shutter Nikon Lens Scope Converter
Nikon Lens Scope Converter Haze Removal

camera | lens | film | flash

Tiltall Tripod

I love old durable equipment. Things that are designed well and are serviceable. Tiltall has quite a history, not mine to tell but much of it is here. I’ve owned three. But I did not find out about Tiltall from photography but from chasing the International Space Station with my Ham radio. I was using a hand held antenna to follow the ISS as it flew across the sky bouncing my radio signal off of it to distant radio operators to hear them return my call. I wanted a tripod that I could set up to mount my antenna to follow and that’s where I found out about Tiltall, in an eBay search. I actually found out about the history of early aluminum tripods for photography.

I started out with one that needed some TLC. I searched for support online and found a Tiltall support page. A blog all about Tiltall tripod history and with support. I bought some parts from them and put mine back into shape. My son borrowed mine and I gifted it to him after I found a new one on a marketplace advertisement. Now I have the version that I want. One leg that becomes a monopod and spike feet that all work. I use mine for time lapse and astrophotography. Although I do take it when I travel, it’s more for at home and drive up destinations, leaving it set up overnight in a secure area. I have a travel tripod for outdoor hiking and camping.

Tiltall Support Page

Tiltall Tripods available in the wild