Shooting the Moon

Every once in a while, people would ask me how to shoot the moon.  Many would argue that you need a dSLR.  Well, not necessarily.  I think you just need a camera with plenty of zoom and manual controls.  I've even seen photos taken from Canon SX40 HS and it looks good.  So as always, just try with what you have first before setting off to buy anything.

For the settings, here's a guide that you may want to follow:

1. Set the Metering mode to "Spot metering".  Setting's location varies in every manufacturer or sometimes even models of the same make so it would be best to dust off the owner's manual that came with the camera to look where it is located.  In Canon, mostly if you press Menu key, you should be able to see the metering option in there.
2. Set the camera mode to Manual.  If your camera doesn't have a manual setting, you can still try using auto mode but I'm pretty sure it's not going to look good.  
3. Set the aperture (f) to around f8.  
4. Set shutter speed to 1/25sec.
5. Set ISO to the lowest.  It's usually 100 for Canon and 200 for Nikon.
6. Put the camera to a tripod or something sturdy and fully zoom in to the moon

This is just a rough guide.  The f and shutter speed values could vary depending on weather conditions and the look you want to achieve so just play around with it.  Here's a couple of shots that I did a while back.   

Poor Shots, Creative Subjects

Winter had almost passed in NJ.  I was about to leave too.  And in the last weekend, I decided to drop by Rockaway Mall.  At the time the mall was hosting a kids’ exhibit.  I wasn’t at my best when I was taking these photos so forgive the poor shots I made.  The exhibit is stellar though!  The best I’ve seen in fact.  Wish I could go back and take better ones.  

Patience is Involved

Sometimes patience plays a big role in photography.  Here’s an example: in the photo of two ducks below, I have to wait a while before they made a position that I like.  And they did take their sweet time just walking before they get into a good pose.  Many other people walking by during that time (two of which are photographers) just gave up after a minute or two.  Two other high school students, who happen to pass by as well, with their camera phones waited with me in the blistering cold.  After a while, we all got a shot that we like. 

My point is, sometimes when you see a good view, you’ll have to wait for something interesting to happen which of course may not happen at all!  Point is, just have patience and wait.  And while waiting, don’t forget to be ready too!

Random Things I Like

In everyday life, we come across things that we like.  Or sometimes, we even do things randomly.  Well, this post contains such subset of things I randomly liked.  Enjoy! :) 

Welcome to Moderate Pixel!

Biking, wrist watches and learning was all I’m fascinated before I first step foot to school.  Back then I was so amazed how people can balance on just two wheels, confused that even though RPN Channel 9 (my favorite channel then because of Batibot) displays the Philippine standard time still people’s wrist watches or wall clocks are either running advance or late (and the fact that time can be displayed using digital or analog hands just added more confusion about time), and of course puzzled on which is the best show: Batibot or Sesame Street.

Then came the year 1990 where I first had encounters with cameras.  My older brother graduated from Kindergarten and of course we needed a camera to preserve the moment.  At the time, we can only buy a roll of film and a set of fresh AA batteries.  My uncle lends us his camera (I can still vividly remember how it looks like though the make and model have been long forgotten) in this glorious occasion.  Then my curiosity about taking picture sparked!

In 1994 life began to be better and we finally bought our own camera.  It’s nothing fancy, just a manual wound point and shoot film one.  When it doesn’t have film, what would a child like me do?  Of course sit and read the user’s manual over and over and play with it pretending I was a famous photographer.  By highschool, I asked for my own.  Of course I didn’t get one.  It was too impractical then.  I can’t even afford to buy films and have it developed during that time.  

Then came the camera phones.  Man, how I jumped to that wagon really fast!  I was amazed at how I can instantly see the pictures I took, delete and save pictures at will!  

Today, even though I've used/owned several digital cameras I'm still a beginner --still trying to learn and explore photography.  And in this blog, I will showcase photos I or my family/friends took that I admire.

Well, that’s it.  Again, welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll like my posts.  Lastly, remind yourself, your camera is just a tool!  Don’t let it limit you!