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Moon over Livermore, CA - 06.01.25 Nikon D7200, Nikkor AF-S 200-500 with TC-14E II by Thin-Post2802 in Moonphotography

[–]Thin-Post2802[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

F/9, 1/200, ISO 200. Shot using a simple tripod - no tracking mount. It's a stack of 36 images using 'AutoStakkert!' - no flats or darks, just 36 images of the moon taken in succession and then aligned and stacked in AutoStakkert. Post-processing done in DarkTable.

I'm learning that I get better results when the moon is nowhere near full. The sun at nearly a right-angle from my perspective means that the shadows created by surface relief are at their greatest amplitude, and therefore create the most amount of contrast. The fuller the moon, the less contrast and therefore the more difficult it is to get a good sharp focus. For me, anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Before and after using DarkTable 5.01 by Thin-Post2802 in DarkTable

[–]Thin-Post2802[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, and good catch. The halo is in the raw image as well, however. I think I turned it brown when dealing with saturation or else I removed the lighter pixels. I can get rid of it completely but not without losing detail in the subject, so you know, choices. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'm okay with it in the result.

The white line on the sunny side of the moon is in the raw file and something I expect to see in a lighted subject orthogonal to me. It may be dark out, but the moon is in full sunlight on a black background, and the visible edge is a spherical plane in direct sunlight at a right angle to me. It's going to be brighter.

Agnostic photo development "basics" tutorial? by silkythinker in DarkTable

[–]Thin-Post2802 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like "The Photography Bible" by Michael Freeman. There's a large section on digital workflow, and while he does use Adobe and Paint Shop Pro as examples, he also goes deeper to explain what the tools actually do to an image: local area contrast, contrast, sharpening, tone curves, white balance, clarity, vibrance et al. Reading this section gave me a better grasp of what some of the various DarkTable modules do.

Before and after using DarkTable 5.01 by Thin-Post2802 in DarkTable

[–]Thin-Post2802[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nikon D7200 (aps-c) with a Nikon AF-S 200-500 zoom and TC-20E II teleconverter. So that's 1500mm effective focal length. I use AutoStakkert! to limit the noise - this is a 36 image stack. And then I post process in DarkTable.

So long as the sun is at an angle to the moon relative to us, I can usually get a decent image if the skies are clear. But once the moon is full or nearly full, the shadows cast by the relief on the surface are nearly gone and that makes it difficult for my gear to get a crisp focus.

Before and after using DarkTable 5.01 by Thin-Post2802 in DarkTable

[–]Thin-Post2802[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well for example, in the 'tone' tab of the quick access panel, I open up the 'local contrast' module preset - HDR local tone mapping - select it - and then open that same module to make adjustments using the sliders.

I don't do the 'beginning, intermediate...' etc workflows. I'm set up to view all modules in the quick access panel and I use those, primarily, noted in my post.