Remembering PRESTAGS

The Triumph of Logic

Readers of this blog have witnessed the torture of logic over the years, so it might be time to revisit its basics, which I think we all agree is vital for a good argument. I believe we have all studied logic, but let's review the basics of Aristotelian logic:

In summary, from those whose youth was a long time ago, you start with your observations to derive facts. You can then deduce new facts to build theorems. However, you must always beware of any regress of reasons, where your beliefs interfere with your ability to follow the track of reason.

Thus, if you have discovered that A => B, and B => C, then you can be certain that A => C. I prefer the mathematical notation as it reveals the basics: You can write A => B as ~A v B: "not A or B". That shows that they only false statement is B is false and A is true. Every other state of A and B returns a true statement. In particular, if B is true, there is no way to predict whether A is true or false.

The famous test is "If the bird is a swan, the bird is coloured white". Thanks to the age of exploration that followed the age of reason, we know this deduction to be false. Yet, every European would have suspected it as true for thousands of years until the eighteenth century. The statement did not become false at that time; it was always false. What changed was that more facts became available. So except in the field of Pure Mathematics, every belief is one piece of evidence away from becoming false.

Einstein spoke with clever irony when he quipped:

So let us revisit some past statements and test their logic.

I would struggle to support anything coming out of the Russian government right now

Can this statement be true? Members of the Russian army has been charged with committing brutal acts during their illegal invasion of the Ukraine. These charges include rape, murder, robbery, targeting of civilians and indiscriminate use of long range munitions. If proven, the Russian army will have demonstrated themselves to be evil, by the Judeo-Christian definition. Does this mean that all Russians are evi?. No. In fact, many Russians have protested again the inhumanity of the invasion, and have been punished. Does this mean that all members of the Russian army are evil? No. In fact, many Russian prisoners of war in the Ukraine have openly spoken of their confusion as to why they were even attacking, and their relief at surrendering. (Of course, you must assume they are trying to paint themselves as less culpable of crimes than their commanders, but the consistency of that message suggests that it may be true. Again, it is not proven true.)

Who murdered all these civilians in Bucha?

However, the evidence of rape, murder of looting is inescapable. Python had the experience of being part of a murder conviction a decade ago: five men ran up a street, four walked back and those four were found guilty of murder via a mechanism called Joint Criminal Enterprise, even though we never worked out which one stabbed the victim.

In the Ukraine, a poorly led army charged in and hideous crimes happened. An Australian court would have no trouble reaching a Joint Criminal Enterprise.

Hang on Python; gotcha; how do you reach the assertion that the Russian Army was poorly led? Fair cop - that is an inference not a deduction

• the Russian army is ten times the size of the Ukrainian army
• the Russian military equipment was modern, which the Ukrainians were equipped with Soviet-era arms
• the Russian army had numerical and qualitative superiority in every type of munition, plane and tank
• the Russian army had the benefit of surprise

and yet within a couple of weeks, before significant Western munitions could arrive and certainly before the Ukrainian militia could be trained in its use, the Russian offenses were blunted. I can see no other cause. Perhaps the better motivation of the Ukrainian patriot, but again that is a matter of leadership. Somewhat like Putin, I struggle to see the difference between a Russian and a Ukrainian; it is not like one is flesh and blood and the other are alien lizards from the inside of our moon.

I close this section to note that despite the bodies, despite the evidence of violated women, despite the destroyed apartment blocks and power stations, the Russian government has not just denied that their army is culpable, but has defending their actions. If the crimes are established, this government has made itself complicit by covering up the criminality of their agents.

So, can I claim that the statement "I would struggle to support anything coming out of the Russian government right now" is logical. Yes, absolutely I can. I think it is very likely that:

• The Russian Army is committing war crimes
• The Russian government is aware of these crimes
• The Russian government is trying to obfuscate to distract world opinion from their behaviour

It is implausible, but entirely possible that there are no war crimes and I am wrong in my suspicions. However, it is also possible that I am completely correct and am justly calling out evil when I see it. While evidence is being gathered, I have to act on what I know: crimes are happening and the Russian army is the most likely suspect. While I struggle to support anything coming out of the Russian government right now, it does not mean I would reject everything. If the Russian government were to made a statement that their invasion of Ukraine was illegal, that they shall leave  by the end of the year and pay from the reconstruction of damaged Ukrainian infrastructure, I would warmly welcome such a statement and openly congratulate them. In summary:

• I suspect the Russian government is still continuing down the path of evil,
• I will continue to listen to their statements
• Should they acknowledge their error and seek to do good, I will applaud them.

Finally, let's deal with the dead cat.

It is a common rhetorical technique when an argument is going against you, to "throw a dead cat on the table and say 'Look!'". Everyone runs around trying to get rid of it and forgets the topic. So, is it logical for Python to discuss his views about the evils being wrought in Ukraine when there are evil pedophiles grooming children? Yes it is. All evils should be condemned. However, humans should only be condemned when the evidence has been fairly tested. Just as I cannot assert at this time that the Russian Army is guilty of war crimes, neither can I assert that any individual is a pedophile until it is proven, no matter how much I might suspect them. Some agnostic friends have asked me how I can remain in the Catholic Church when so many priests have been found guilty of pedophilia or covering it up. I accept the criticism, but using logic, I can deduce that just because many Catholics are guilty of this crime, it is not a Catholic behaviour, and I can support the Church in eliminating the scourge.

Logic can triumph!

Just because it was there

the moon. Starting to wane so not so bright which makes for better shots with contrast and detail rather than 'white out'. (a cropped shot of course).

 

have to post obviously - the moon

hand held last night from my front porch, seeing how the Nikon AF-P 70-300 DX goes vs the Tamron 70-200 f2.8. sharpened a little and contrast adjust a little in View NXi

70-300 AF-P

Tamron 70-200. although shorter, the Tamron image holds up well even with the additional cropping. (it is a big piece of glass)

Moon, supermoon

So I fired off some quick shots tonight before the supermoon was engulfed by cloud ...

here is one as shot (slight touchup for exposure). Hand held, D7500 @ 300mm

50% crop

Evening Sunday 3 May. D7500 @ 300mm, on tripod.

as shot

50% crop

another one, slightly different exposure

50% crop

Star photography - part 2 - stars, kit, moon

one of the first ones, 15mm, complete with airplane or chopper ... Note that this is not what my eye saw - these are long exposures between 10 and 30 seconds. The trees are all fuzzy because it was quite windy and they were flapping about.

shot settings: manual focus (preset before dark), manual exposure - f2.8 & between 10 and 30 seconds, ISO between 2000 and 3200.

11mm showing the ingress light from the late arrival campers ...

20mm, after moving a bit further up the hill. Can you see the Southern Cross?

There are a few more. I was reasonably pleased with this for a first go.  Here is the set up as shot by my phone

Off to bed reasonably early but didn't sleep so well. Very windy through the night. Got up at 3am for a call of nature ...
and lo, the waning moon was evident. 300mm and cropped a lot. manual exposure about 1/500 sec and f8, ISO 400 (from memory)

 

next time I think I will search for a spot with a rocky outcrop in the foreground. Orroral valley would be great but I think it is shut off at night.

Daytime Moon

Hand held (but leaning on a pole) on the new Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ90.

I should have taken it three days ago to celebrate the anniversary.

 

Autumn shooting

A sample of pics

from today - opportunistic shots at Weston Park. Nice afternoon light.

I love Gang-gangs - I was trying to get close as I only had the 17-50 with me. These are cropped pretty heavily.

early this month - ornamental pears (?) in the neighbour's front yard. About as big as a small grape. Nice afternoon light.

Tree in my front yard.

and one of the moon, also cropped a lot, some sharpening. 70-300 AF-P DX VR

 

 

Magnificent sunset, and a waning moon

the light in the yard was so orange ...

handheld shot of the waning moon with 70-300 AF-P. Cropped a lot. Sky was a bit hazy. 

Sharp

so sharp this little 70-300 af-p ...

Half Moon tonight

usual thygo opportunistic moon shots - pretty clear sky after rain this evening. On tripod at front door.

cropped image. D3300 + 55-300 f6.3 1/640s

cropped image D90 f7.1 1/640sec

Moon

opportunistic shot of the moon earlier this evening. D3300 + 55-300 (@300). Stupidly didn't shoot in RAW but only 'Normal' so minimal processing options - sharpened  (+4) and shadow protection a little.

uncropped

cropped image

just a couple of pics, old & new tech

Moon shot with Nikon D3300 + 55-300. some sharpening and minor tweeks

uncropped

cropped

Autumn colour in front yard. Nikon D40x, 18-135 lens. some tweaks for colour and highlight protection

Adventures With The New Lenses

Paul has been very happy playing with his new lenses, both of which appear to be superior to the kit lens.

70-300 mm

The new zoom is awesome, especially after Thygo taught me how to track the focus.

Once again I can get decent shots of aeroplanes, in this case an Emirates A380 flying into the clouds.

At the other end of the zoom, close ups also work well with this big heavy lens. This is Sir Lancelot who likes to come out of his cage for a cuddle and scratch.

I had lots of fun in the Botanic Gardens with Thygo, who was every bit the intrepid explorer and photographer in the rain forest. Note the foot movement captured in this photo.

The famous blue wrens were too fast for me, but I got a honey eater and a magpie who caught me creeping up from behind.

Here is a zoom in close of my mother's apostle pot.

In Sydney my early morning walks still leave me in darkness for most of the walk, and then only very early morning light. I got a decent shot of a posh retirement home, and was able to zoom in through the glass for a good closeup.

This is one of my favourite photos of Canada Bay towards the end of my walk. The sun has risen above the horizon behind me, and it reflects off the white boats and buildings in front of me in the grey dawn.

I haven't really tried to take a moon shot yet, but I did a quick snap of the early morning moon with my zoom. Not too bad for hand held. I cropped this from the middle section of the photo.

35 mm Prime

Let's not forget the little 35 mm prime.

First of all, it takes excellent portraits. Here is the Master taken by the Apprentice.

Second, this lens takes excellent landscapes. Notice the wind blowing the trees in the first photo. Both of these are views from the Arboreum. The second photo is looking towards Mt Stromlo. The colours are great and the sky and clouds exactly like it was on the day.

I'm looking forward to more adventures with the Nikon, especially in Canberra with the Master.

 

Finger nail moon

a quick shot of the finger nail moon. 

D3300, 55-300 @ 300mm, tripod, sharpened a little, cropped a fair bit.

Penang, Malaysia: Playing with the Zoom

My previous Nikon had an awesome zoom, but my new P610 is even better. It boasts an x60 optical zoom and an x120 digital zoom. Clarity is very high in the optical zoom range.

In the beach shot below, there is a tiny white shape on the horizon in the middle of the photo. This is actually two container ships. They are very close together and I imagined some kind of suspicious contraband activity was going on.

At Batu Ferringhi beach there was a lot of para gliding. It looked like fun, but appeared to be unregulated and I have been told it is very dangerous with fatalities on this same beach. We actually saw one crash into the ocean which looked bad although both riders were ok. The close up zoom photo is within the optical range and is crystal clear.

On our second day at the resort there was a beautiful daytime moon. Naturally I thought of Thygo. Zoom shot wasn't too bad.

All of the rooms at Shangri La's Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa had balconies with an ocean view. From my balcony late one afternoon I spotted the glow of a laptop screen on another balcony some distance away.

I zoomed in and got a good shot, but not at NSA standard where I could view the words on the laptop screen. The chap seemed to be looking at images anyway.

First Shots

First food shot with my new Nikon P610. Emphasising the reds rather than the blues.

First moon shot with my new Nikon P610.

Looking forward to playing more with my new camera, as soon as I get some time.

Cool T-Shirt

I have found a really cool T-Shirt that combines the interests of both the Python and I. If one views the circular laurel wreath as symbolic of the moon it also includes an interest of Thygocanberra.

The description of the T-Shirt is as follows:

"Molon Labe (pronounced mo'lon la've) is ancient Greek for "come and take it" and traces its roots back to the famous Spartan Battle of Thermopylae of 300 lore. 

This classical expression of defiance goes back to the days of the ancient Greeks.  It was reportedly spoken by King Leonidas I in response to the Persian army's demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae.   Today we are faced with a similar choice.  The globalists want free men to surrender their right to bear arms and become slaves to the New World Order.  The famous story of the 300 Spartans has inspired people throughout the ages to fight for their ideals,  even in the face of overwhelming odds.  This latest Infowars shirt honors and inspires this tradition of free men courageously fighting  for their country and freedom. 

Black shirt with distressed gold ink combines both classic Greek/Spartan imagery with modern M16 assault rifles.  It has ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ printed across the top with Infowars at the bottom in an ancient Greek inspired font.  The back also features an ancient Greek Infowars logo with "1776" written in Roman numerals".

What a fantastic T-Shirt! They even come in styles for women so the whole family can wear them. What sizes would you like Python?

Some Moon shots

Taken opportunistically hand held with different camera bodies (D60 and D90) but the same lens (18-200). A little post processing - adjust white balance, sharpen slightly, small exposure compensation on one. Cropped.

The D90 images appear sharper to me. It is 12 MP vs D60 10 MP and I wouldn't have thought the differenece would be due to the MP count but maybe because of the better autofocus system of the D90. Looks like I have some colour aberrations as a result of something in the last one.

I have this nagging feeling that the D60 doesn't focus as well as it used to for these close to infinity moon shots, and I have to wonder if the focus got out of kilter when Nikon replaced the D60's
shutter mechanism.

Also hard to really check the result for focus on the LCD - D60 230K dots, D90 920K dots. Also, it is clear that the 18-200 swiss army knife lens is not as sharp, or long, as one would really like for this subject.

D60 18 March

D90 13 March

D90

Solving the Puzzle of the Box

What is in the box?

I think I have figured this out. The box includes documents relating to alien disclosure, which will probably occur in 2014. This also explains one of the reasons for the previous Holy Father's sudden resignation (the upcoming events known to the inner circle in the Vatican were all too dramatic and too difficult for a person of his age and experience) and it may explain why one has a sense with the new Holy Father that he is restrained and waiting for something.

Where is the evidence, you ask. The evidence is out there, in lots of little crumbs, and is complicated and too much for one post. But I will disclose some of the crumbs now, and more later.

Exhibit 1

Franklin D. Roosevelt, US President, 4 March 1933-12 April 1945. Memorandum to the Chief of Staff for the Army dated 27 February 1942.

 

Exhibit 2

George C. Marshall, US Army Chief of Staff, 1 September 1939 - 18 November 1945, US Secretary of State 21 January 1947 - 20 January 1949 and US Secretary of Defence 21 September 1950 - 12 September 1951. Memorandum to the President  dated 5 March 1942.

Exhibit 3

Dwight D. Eisenhower, US Chief of Staff of the Army 19 November 1945 - 6 February 1948, Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2 April 1951 - 30 May 1952 and US President 20 January 1953 - 20 January 1961. Memorandum to Col. Ireland regarding Cardinal Spellman, 30 June 1947.

 

 Cardinal Francis J. Spellman, Apostolic Vicar for the US Armed Forces, 1939-1967.

 

 

Exhibit 4

John F. Kennedy, US President 20 January 1961 - 22 November 1963. Memorandum to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency dated 12 November 1963.

 

 

Exhibit 5

 The Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), Mount Graham International Observatory, Arizona, USA.

From Catholic.net, May 2008

Vatican astronomer’s take on extraterrestials.

by Edward Pentin

VATICAN CITY — Extraterrestrials: Do they exist?

The head of the Vatican Observatory thinks there’s a good chance they do, and that their existence would be in keeping with the faith.

In a May 14 interview with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano May 14, headlined “The Extraterrestrial Is My Brother,” astronomer Jesuit Father José Gabriel Funes said that according to his “scientific judgment,” the existence of extraterrestrials is a “possibility.”

“Astronomers contend that the universe is made up of a hundred billion galaxies, each of which is composed of hundreds of billions of stars,” he said. “Many of these, or almost all of them, could have planets. [So] how can you exclude that life has developed somewhere else?”

The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, and has its headquarters at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo just outside Rome. Its main research telescopes, however, are located at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Father Funes, who took over as head of the observatory in 2006, denied that the existence of other intelligent life-forms would contradict Christian belief.

“As there exist many creatures on earth, so there could be other beings, also intelligent, created by God,” he said. “This doesn’t contradict our faith because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God. To say it as St. Francis [of Assisi], if we consider some earthly creatures as ‘brother’ and ‘sister,’ why couldn’t we also talk of an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? He would also belong to creation.”

The Argentine Jesuit explained that scientists studying the question of extraterrestrial life have made much progress in recent years, and will soon be able to identify if other planets have the conditions necessary for life. He added that, in theory, forms of life could also exist in parts of the universe without oxygen and hydrogen.

When asked how aliens could be redeemed, Father Funes referred to the Gospel parable of the lost sheep. Aliens, he speculated, could already be redeemed because they could have remained in full friendship with God, while the human race “could be precisely the lost sheep, the sinners that need the shepherd.”

But what if they were sinners like us? Father Funes replied that just as Jesus is believed to have come to save mankind, so he was sure that they, “in some way, would have the chance to enjoy God’s mercy.”

Father Funes’ comments to L’Osservatore Romano do not represent an official Vatican statement but remain merely his personal views. However, the fact they were published in the Vatican newspaper signifies support of the wider Church for the acceptability of his position regarding the possible existence of intelligent aliens.

Exhibit 6

His Holiness Pope Francis, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, 13 March 2013 and continuing, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church 19 April 2005 - 28 February 2013. Vatican Consecration on 5 July 2013.

On 5 July 2013 Pope Francis, in the company of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, consecrated the Vatican City State to St Michael the Archangel and St Joseph. The Holy Father blessed a statue of St Michael and addressed those present:

"In the Vatican Gardens there are several works of art. But this, which has now been added, takes on particular importance, in its location as well as the meaning it expresses. In fact it is not just celebratory work but an invitation to reflection and prayer, that fits well into the Year of Faith. Michael—which means “Who is like God?”—is the champion of the primacy of God, of His transcendence and power. Michael struggles to restore divine justice and defends the People of God from his enemies, above all by the enemy par excellence, the devil. And St. Michael wins because in him, there is He God who acts. This sculpture reminds us then that evil is overcome, the accuser is unmasked, his head crushed, because salvation was accomplished once and for all in the blood of Christ. Though the devil always tries to disfigure the face of the Archangel and that of humanity, God is stronger, it is His victory and His salvation that is offered to all men. We are not alone on the journey or in the trials of life, we are accompanied and supported by the Angels of God, who offer, so to speak, their wings to help us overcome so many dangers, in order to fly high compared to those realities that can weigh down our lives or drag us down. In consecrating Vatican City State to St. Michael the Archangel, I ask him to defend us from the evil one and banish him.

We also consecrate Vatican City State in St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus, the guardian of the Holy Family. May his presence make us stronger and more courageous in making space for God in our lives to always defeat evil with good. We ask Him to protect, take care of us, so that a life of grace grows stronger in each of us every day".

Exhibit 7 (Not Verified)

VISUALLY CONFIRMED: Enormous Craft Detected on Moon

Monday, 20 January 2014 11:58

January 18, 2014 -- (TRN http://www.TurnerRadioNetwork.com ) -- At least one enormous object of unknown origin has been visually verified as having landed on our moon. As a result, on Wednesday, January 15, three Terrier-Orion rockets blasted off within a span of 20 seconds from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST (0600 to 1000 GMT) on hush-hush missions for the Department of Defense (DoD). TRN has obtained photos of the unknown spacecraft and has an audio interview with an outside consultant from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) who confirms that for almost two years the U.S. government used the McDonald Observatory in Texas to track the approach of two of these enormous objects. A year ago, in January 2013, the objects had gotten to 200,000 miles past Mars when they suddenly vanished. Realizing these two craft were approaching earth and might not be visible to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) depending upon where they went, the Government reactivated the previously cancelled Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to be launched to the moon on September 6, 2013. It took almost 100 days for LADEE to be placed into proper lunar orbit because NASA utilized gravity instead of rocket fuel to achieve this. By December, 2013, both the LADEE and the LROC found at least one of the two enormous objects had landed on the moon, in a crater the size of the City of Chicago. In 2012, the U.S. confidentially shared information about the inbound "objects" with other governments.  Shortly thereafter to the surprise of many,  China announced it intended to land on the moon and launched its Chang e-3 in December.  That launch took place and China became only the third nation to make a successful soft-landing on the moon with its Chang e-3 lunar lander.  Upon landing, the Chang e-3 deployed a rover called YUTU. The U.S. has been in contact with China to see if it is possible to have its Chang 'e-3 moon lander or its "YUTU" rover travel this far to obtain more information.  No word if China will assist.

Stay Tuned.

Although there are few certainties in these dramatic times, it is certain that governments will not be entirely truthful when it comes to anything to do with aliens. But it is also certain that St Michael protects the Church and Christ has already won the victory.

Full Moon

Last Night was a full moon. I presume that is why Thygocanberra was unable to send a turn.

I played around a bit with my Nikon and managed to take a half decent photo.

The zoom was OK for getting the alien base, but I will need a more specialised lens to take close ups of the base.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone, especially post 50 wargamers.

New Year Resolutions:

I might let the Python win a few EDEE games early in the year so his interest doesn't flag too much.

And I'll try and keep the photos coming for ThygoCanberra (this is a daytime moon in a grey Auckland sky).

Will This Be The One?

I have returned from working on Saturday, which I do not like. I did not rush into the three player EDEE (Python will scream) because I wanted to play with my new camera (Thygocanberra will understand).

After much research over several months, and despite being tempted by a DSLR, I have opted for a "bridge" camera, the Nikon P520. Although not a sophisticated camera, it still seems complicated to me. After charging the battery, I put the settings on 'auto' everything and charged outside for the obligatory moon shot, in the middle of the afternoon, as you do.

At least this is my first moon shot that is not blurry. Now that I have got this out of the way I will read the manual, which reminds me of a law text book, and then try out some other shots.

My last camera was a new one that I only bought in April but it is the worst camera I have ever had. It is the Samsung WBBOOF and was an impulse buy at the airport. Never buy a camera on impulse. This Samsung has a dial that always moved by itself, horrible holding areas that always resulted in accidently touching overly sensitive controls, and the zoom was crap after about x10. I think stick to Samsung for TV screens, not cameras.

The photo above is taken by the Samsung of the new Nikon.

The Nikon feels great in the hand, and everything is in a logical place. Now I'll see if my research has led me to the right camera.

PS Can you see the Dalek?

Moon Watch

I think PythonMagus and myself should buy this watch for Thygocanberra for Christmas. It tracks the phases of the moon, so Thygo can plan ahead for his lunar photography.

An Australian Winner

An Australian has won the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013, and yes his winning photographs included a moon shot.

Mark Gee won the People and Space category with 'Moon Silhouettes' (above), and the Earth and Space category with 'Guiding Light to the Stars' (below). He was the overall winner 2013. His photographs will be displayed at an exhibition at the Greenwich Observatory commencing today.

Some of the other photographs in the competition were impressive and can be viewed here at The Telegraph site.

2014? PythonMagus has the telescope. Thygocanberra has the camera and the skill. Yodayellow has the imagination. I have the will and the drive. Come on, let's go!

PS. I must say, my favourite photograph (which is now my desktop wallpaper) was the runner up in the People and Space category, 'Hi. Hello' by Ben Canales (USA):

Astro Photography

Astro photography, difficult it is.

Saturn's moon Mimas, like death star it looks.

Beautiful they are, moon silhouettes.

Suns not moons, photographs are best.

Photography, peace and harmony it can give.

shooting (photographing) the moon

There are several aspects to shooting the moon.

There are lots of tips on the internet in various places and I will give some links.

But I'll have a go in my own words too.

The short story is: shoot in Manual mode with an aperture of say f8, shutter speed of 1/500sec, lowest ISO possible (reduces digital noise), and camera as still as possible, say on a tripod with shutter delay or remote shutter release. And long focal length/zoom. Then experiment up and down with settings to get it as nice as you can within the limits of the gear you have.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/moonshots/discuss/72157616838476080/?search=shooting+moon

http://www.flickr.com/groups/critique/discuss/72157606813095062/?search=shooting+moon

the long story

The main elements are: available light, shutter speed, aperture (f-stop), (which combined with ISO/film speed and metering gives exposure), camera shake, reach (focal length), white balance. And the moon itself is moving, which takes us back to shutter speed.

Available light. Although you are shooting in the dark, the target, the moon, is bright - very bright relative to what is around it. The default 'metering' setting for most cameras will be to balance for all the light coming through the lens for the scene as a whole (different brands call it different things but Nikon calls it 'matrix metering'.

If you shoot the moon on an 'auto' setting the moon will probably turn out way overexposed. Remember that although it is very bright it is only a tiny portion of the scene and the cameras 'brain' is trying to expose for the bulk of the scene which is very dark. The camera will probably 'choose' a  large aperture (small number 'f stop') and slow shutter speed. The result will be a bright blob with no detail.

So what is aperture and shutter speed?

aperture is the size of the hole in the iris of the lens - how much light gets in. The smaller the f stop number the bigger the hole and the more light that gets in. Typically lenses have variable aperture and can range anywhere from f1.8 to f32. At either end of this scale you can get artifacts from the physics of light. Typically f2.8 - f16 is in the 'normal' range (very roughly speaking). Typical zoom lenses are often in the range f3.5 - f16. (the aperture scale goes in what are called 'stops' - f1.8, f2.2, f2.8, f3.5, f4, f5, f5.6, f6.3, f7.1, f8, f9, f11 etc)

shutter speed is how long the light is captured on the film or sensor. The longer its open the more light gets in and the brighter the image.

so, to shoot the moon you need to shoot in Manual mode, where you decide the aperture AND the shutter speed.

The rub with compact cameras is they may not have Manual mode - but check in the menu.

For the full moon (very bright) a rough place to start is f8 and 1/500 sec. Then because with digital you can take lots of images and check exposure you can play with the combination to get it right.

Sharpness - this will be a function of the particular lens, and they tend to have a 'sweet' spot where the image is most sharp (all zoom lenses are compromises of lots of elements so you can get focus at all those focal lengths). Lots of dSLR lenses tend to be sharpest at around f8. For compacts/bridge cameras maybe f5.6.

[There is some other physics that goes with this about how much of the image from front to back is in focus called 'depth of field' but that isn't so inportant for this purpose - the moon is kind of in a relative single plane. But briefly, the smaller the f stop the shallower the depth of field - only a thin plane will be in focus. To get everything from front to back in focus eg from the foreground to the horizon you are going above f8 - f16, f22. Also the shorter the physical focal length of the lens the greater the depth of field. So compact digital cameras where the lens is physically short will have wide depth of field (sometimes referred to as 'infinite depth of field'. Physically longer lenses, such as on dSLRs, will give shallower depth of field for the same field of view.]

Zoom lenses will also typically have sweet spots for sharpness at different focal lengths, and also typically sharpness is worst at either extremity, so i tmay be that a little shorter than the maximum zoom will give better sharpness.

Focal length - obviously the longer the focal length the closer and more detail you should be able to get.

Quoted lens focal (zoom) lengths are typically given in a 35mm or full frame (film/sensor size) equivalent. So when you see a bridge camera zoom lens advertised as 28-12oomm you can see that the lens is NOT 1200mm long but when you scale for the sensor size.

To get 'close enough' to the moon you are needing 200mm equivalent or longer. Below this, once you crop the image to see the moon you will not be getting sharpness or detail.

I have an 18-200 (equivalent) zoom and I am pushing the limits at the 200mm end. 300 would be better.

Somtimes the lens will be a little sharper at a little less than full zoom - this is worth experimenting with.

Metering

depending on the camera, you may get better results from 'spot metering' - that is the camera reads the incoming light from the centre of the frame and calculates from there.

Cropping, focal length and sensor size

Typically close up moon shots printed or posted are cropped from the orignal image.

There is a range from BIG boys to little boys. The bigger the sensor or film negative size the longer the lenses actually need to be (and the longer they are the heavier they are). But the bigger the sensor the more silver grains or pixels per unit area you can have so the bigger you can print / enlarge and retain detail.

Medium format - film days mostly - negative about 2.5 x 2.5 inches - real pro stuff for huge enlargements. (there are also 'medium format' cameras but that is real pro stuff for huge enlargements).

'FX' dSLR cameras have a sensor the same size as a 35mm film negative . They are like bricks and and they and their lenses are expensive.

'DX' - the consumer grade Canon, Nikon, Pentax etc dSLR with the 'APS-C' size sensor - about as big as a postage stamp. (What Thygo has)

Other interchangeable lens systems - '4/3', 'micro 4/3' - smaller sensor again

Compact and bridge cameras - small sensors - 1/2 in (diagnonal) to 1/1/3 in . The bridge or ultrazooms have long magnification anywhere from 600 - 1200mm equivalent. But because of the sensor size it's harder to crop / enlarge as much.

Stability - two things put images out of focus - camera shake and too slow shutter speed to achieve 'stop/freeze' subject movement. Various cameras and lenses have vibration reduction (VR, OS, OIS, VC) to reduce or compensate for camera shake (you holding the camera). VR won't stop action on its own though it can mean you can shoot a slower shutter speed to get enough light in for correct exposure.

OK, the moon is moving and it is a small target a long way away. Hand held is possible if the shuter speed is fast enough. Generally faster than 1/500 second is considered necessary to freeze movement of people for example.  1/500 is a good place to start shooting the moon. Tripod is helpful and delayed shutter release or remote / cable release reduces shake from pushing the shutter button. If the camera or lens has VR it is often better to turn it off when on a tripod.

ISO and white balance

ISO used to be called film speed. Digital cameras have a 'native' ISO (often 100 or 200 ISO) above or below which digital noise can be introduced. ISO 100 or 200 is standard for bright light. The moon is a bright light source so it is good to try the lowest ISO first. When you only have half the moon you may need to up the ISO to keep the shutter speed fast and the aperture up.

white balance has to do with colour cast. Once again the moon is bright and auto ISO or sunlight setting tend to work well.

Other settings

pick the sharpest setting your camera can give you - vivid or landscape. Not portrait

If you can shoot in RAW then this can also get you extra resolution in post processing, otherwise the highest quality jpeg setting.

atmospheric conditions

best if it is dry and clear.  You tend to get less atmospheric interfrence when the moon is above rather than on the horizon (rising or setting).

Post processing

when you get some good ones you can crop away to enlarge the moon itself.

 2012. 1/400, f8, ISO 200, spot metering, 200mm equivalent. Heavy crop. Bit overexposed.

Thygo's Best Photographs

Thygocanberra is a brilliant photographer and I am very jealous.

I have gone through some of his photographs to choose my favourites.

No, definitely not this one:

And no, not these ones although they are very good photographs:

It is these ones.

The BRONZE medal goes to:

 

The SILVER Medal goes to:

And, the GOLD medal goes to my favourite:

New Categories for Thygocanberra

I have created twelve (yes 12!) new formal categories especially for Thygocanberra:

1. The Moon
2. Ducks
3. Hockey Sticks
4. Heresy
5. Apostasy
6. Schismatics
7. ACT (Grand Duchy)
8. Crime & Punishment
9. Elephants
10. Liturgical Music
11. Men in White Coats
12. Little House on the Prairie

Steak Knives? Yes, THERE IS MORE. I will undertake to write a post in each of these twelve categories within three months if PythonMagus does the same!

A Theory for PythonMagus about Thygocanberra

Lets start at the beginning. The moon.

Why? Two Reasons. First, PythonMagus is concerned that Thygocanberra does not post as much as him. Second, It is a well known fact that Thygocanberra is a tad obsessed with lunar photography.

Perhaps PythonMagus could investigate the correlation between Thygocanberra posts and the full moon. While the starting sample size is small (27 July, 11 August and 15 August) there have not been any posts on the day of a full moon. Or within any week in which the full moon was in the middle of that week.

Similar science to climate change actually.