I’m trying to use my camera’s manual mode more, but it’s not going well. The night of the last full moon, I went to the lake and left in tears. The lighting wasn’t good, and the moon hid behind the clouds. Every image was a mess.
I spent the rest of the night thinking about quitting. I’d secretly been considering making photography my new career. Maybe another year and I could start charging real money for my work and help my family pay down our debt. Failing at the moon photos felt like a rejection—a confirmation that I’m wasting my time.
The next morning, I woke up early and headed to my local park to try again. These photos are the result. I’m still not thrilled with these images, but at least I’m getting better at making fast adjustments. The sky went from totally dark to a bright sunlight in the hour I was there. I had to keep tweaking my settings, popping in and out of light and shadow. But, unlike the previous night, I didn’t let it get to me.
These aren’t the best, not even my best. Not by a long shot. But, I edited them to be cohesive. Some of these shots have potential. I’ve taking a few online photography classes. I’m still going to keep trying.
You should, too.
I believe in you.
- These were taken with my Olympus E-M1 MarkII, using a 75-300mm lens and edited with Lightroom Classic.
Bridgette Tales 
You still created some nice photos, Bridgette! May I suggest using Aperture Mode which lets the camera do most of the work. The spinning button on top of my Nikon cameras allows you to adjust the ISO which makes it so much faster to get what I see as photos. Also, do you have an HDR (high dynamic range) app on your computer? I use the Aurora HDR app and have use it for many years. I hope you guys are well!
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At least you had a go. I found that just using Auto and a steady hand works well for me for Moon photos. I have tried lots of settings and was, like you, disappointed Bridgette
The other photos are good
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