Last Nights Moon

[Terry]

[Guest DaveW]

Good picture with good contrast Terry.

We had a query years ago on another site I was on as to why a photographer could get better pictures of a partial than a full moon. It's a bit like Fuji's comments on ring lights in macro. A full moon is lit directly face on by the sun providing very flat lighting, but partial moons are lit by skimmed lighting from the sun as it moves around, so provide better modeling for the mountains and valleys. If you scroll down the following link to the moon phase pictures you will see how the lighting angle changes as the moon waxes and wanes and shadows reveal more of the moons contours. Unfortunately there is nothing we on earth can do to alter the lighting direction, meaning flat lighting at full moon:-

http://www.clarkvisi...sition.subject/

http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/moon-test2/index.html

http://home.hiwaay.n...oon/howtophoto/

Good picture though of a full moon, give it a try again as it wanes and see what a difference to the modeling of the mountains and valleys the more oblique lighting makes.

DaveW