Technical practice

 To practise getting to grips with the effects of changing the shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings of the camera to achieve different exposures, I spent some time trying to photograph a celestial phenomena on a slightly cloudy night. This was a good exercise, as the settings have to be just right to achieve a successful photograph. I was pleased with the results.

This was taken with a slow shutter speed (1"), medium aperture (f/5.6), and a high ISO (1600), meaning the camera captured the light of the moon and Jupiter for one second, and the high ISO made it sensitive to the light that it received, resulting in a bright photo.

This was taken with a slightly larger aperture (f/4.0) and a much lower ISO (400), meaning that the lens let in more light within the second, but the camera was less sensitive to it.

This photo, taken with a very slightly larger aperture (f/3.5), makes it possible to see the halo around the moon - a phenomena caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

This was taken with a much faster shutter speed (1/125), a much higher aperture (f 8.0), and a lower ISO (100), the results showing much more detail of the lunar surface, despite the thin cloud cover.