Shooting the moon

Lo! the moon ascending!
Up from the East, the silvery round moon;
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon;
Immense and silent moon.

-- Walt Whitman (1819–1892)


I have an affinity for the moon. She has always drawn me and I have always loved looking at her (in some pagan religions, the moon is feminine, no "man in the moon" there).

But I have never been able to take a good picture of the moon. Usually I end up with a big white blotch, like this:

I was hoping with my new digital point and shoot, I would do better. Last night and this morning I tried, I really did. This is better because you can see the moon's oceans, to some degree:



But it is not that great. The picture below has more personality but the camera focused on the tree, not the moon, so the orb is blurred:

I have tried a number of settings on the new camera, trying to make it happen. I have never been that great a photographer, though. I do okay but I would never profess to make a living at it. It is a hobby that I am lucky enough to occasionally get paid for, if I can send in decent enough shots with an article.

This turned out the best, this big ol' moon, but the colors are not that deep and I am not that happy with it.






Somehow, the first day I got the camera, I was playing around and I pointed at the moon and got this shot. You can even see the craters. But I have no idea what setting I was using and I can't just make it happen.

All of these shots were freehand. Tonight, if the sky stays clear, I hope to try again with a tripod. Maybe between now and then, I can figure out how to shoot the moon.