Shooting Under the moon

[RobyMD]

Not to steal any thunder from Gordon's question I thought I'd ask in a separate thread.

So getting to the point... Does anyone have any tips on shooting people under the moon? This past Saturday in Houston we had a large moon (I don't know if it was a full moon or not). And also a clear sky to see it. My thought was to get bring the bride outside and shoot in such a way that will look like she's being lit by the moon but have a strobe off camera fire.

I couldn't get a decent shot of the moon by itself so the other part of the shot i didn't even try.

Help. Does it matter on how far the moon is away from the earth... OK I'll listen now.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by RobyMD

Not to steal any thunder from Gordon's question I thought I'd ask in a separate thread.

So getting to the point... Does anyone have any tips on shooting people under the moon? This past Saturday in Houston we had a large moon (I don't know if it was a full moon or not). And also a clear sky to see it. My thought was to get bring the bride outside and shoot in such a way that will look like she's being lit by the moon but have a strobe off camera fire.

I couldn't get a decent shot of the moon by itself so the other part of the shot i didn't even try.

Help. Does it matter on how far the moon is away from the earth... OK I'll listen now.

I would just photoshop in a good tele shot of the moon...

[RobyMD]

I guess that's an option... but no experience in doing it in cam eh?

[henryp]

The moon's so far away it's a point source of light so you'd want a harder more specular light source. Depending on the time of year and weather the color of the light the moon reflects ranges from very warm to cool-neutral. It's a single light source, so you may be able to get away with reflectors but multiple light sources are probably out. The direction of your light has to approximate the moon's on your shot so the viewer's impression is not that the moon's behind the subject but the light's in front.

[RobyMD]

makes sense. Thanks for the suggestions.

[jchooper12]

Meter for the moon then use the flash to light your subject. I would use my SB-800 off camera to do it. Just keep the power on the flash at it's lowest to were your subject is exposed enough.