Phil,
Thanks for stopping by and viewing my photos on pbase. As for your question about focusing on the moon, I can tell you that it's tricky. The best thing to do is avoid the full moon because it is normally so bright that it gets blown out. Secondly, try underexposing the shot and focusing on the EDGE of the moon, not the center. (You can later bring the brightness up in Photoshop). There needs to be contrast for the autofocus to pick up, and this is why you should use the edge. Do this with one single focus point... do not use multiple points. And finally, if all else fails, try manual focus and using your eyes to see if it's in focus. Look at the edge of the moon that is shadowed (as the to of the moon is in your photo here) and you can tell more easily if it is focused by looking for definition in the craters.
Please check back at my pbase gallery for some better moon shots in the next few days. I just got back from a birding trip to the Everglades and to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, and one evening, I got a killer shot of the moon while the sky was still blue and it was not yet dark outside. This is another thing you can try. I was with a friend who has a 400mm f2.8L, and we put a 2x extender on it. I then shot the moon at 800mm x 1.6 crop factor (about 1280 mm equivalent). I will be going through about 1200 photos in the next few days and posting some.
Thanks for your comments.... and good luck shooting the moon.
Tim
