Hand held Moon

This is my first attempt at a shot of the moon and although it is far from perfect I am not too unhappy with it. Particularly as it was taken without the aid of a tripod.

I am astonished with the detail you can see on the surface of the moon in this shot, particularly the impact craters and I'll definitely try and take some more moon photos at some point. Worth a look at large to see extra detail.

However I have to admit it is only the Nikon VR technology that makes it possible as otherwise the camera shake would leave me with just a smudge.

I took this shot just before the light went this afternoon, which accounts for the background not being a black night sky. I waited and took some more when the sky was black but when I looked at those pictures all I got was a white blob with no detail. My lack of knowledge means I don't know why the photo didn't work at night but did during the day so I'll have to try and look that up.