How to Get a Good Shot of the Moon
We will see the closest full moon since 1948 on November 14, and it will not happen again for 18 years. If you want to photograph the moon in all its glory, get ready. Here’s how to take next week’s Super Moon shot that will pay tribute and maybe even be wallpaper-worthy.
Start with the right camera and lens
The moon looks beautiful, big and bright. You take a picture with your phone and watch. Wow. You might as well have photographed a speck of dust because it looks like that. If you’ve ever photographed the moon with your phone, you know this feeling. It is pointless.
The biggest and most obvious reason for your lunar photography sucks is because the moon is so far away. It’s hard enough to get a decent shot across the room with your cat’s smartphone , much less one that’s 238,900 miles away. Of course, the moon is much larger than your cat, but still far from your camera.
You can not make great pictures of anything, who is so far away, on your smartphone, because, despite all the other interesting settings, zoom and a focal length of your phone, simply are not designed for this purpose. In general terms, focal length is the distance between the lens and its focal point. The most worthy photographs of the Moon are obtained with telephoto lenses with a focal length of at least 300 mm . The video above, for example, was captured with a 500mm lens. For comparison, your phone’s focal length is about 20mm. Smartphone cameras and point and shoot are designed to be compact and handy enough to fit in your pocket. They are simply not built to perform the same functions as DLSRs, mirrorless cameras, or any other interchangeable lens cameras.
However, removable lenses for smartphones with optical zoom are available. As you can imagine, they are also not as powerful, but you can take slightly better pictures with them. They won’t be awesome, but they will be better than what you would otherwise get.
No, I saw brilliant pictures of the moon , you might say. Yes, these photos are awesome, but keep in mind that iPhone astrophotographers like astronomer Andrew Simes use telescopes to take detailed close-ups. This is called afocal photography, and it involves photographing the telescope’s eyepiece (you can try this with binoculars to see what happens).
You’re luckier if you get a decent shot of the moon with a DSLR or an EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder with Interchangeable Lens) camera such as a mirrorless camera . These cameras are equipped with the best lenses. For moon photography, you will need to rent or buy one of those 300mm or higher lenses that we mentioned. Prices can range from one hundred to a couple of thousand dollars. Here’s an inexpensive one I recently bought for my DSLR. It will work, but there is nothing special about it.
On the other hand, some cameras have a good built-in optical zoom, allowing you to take great pictures even without a lens. For example, the Nikon P900 takes impressive shots of the moon , as you can see in the image above.
Adjust camera exposure settings
Ordinary boring pictures of the moon look cheesy because the moon is so bright. This is why in your photos it looks like a big blurry light bulb with no clarity, or like crisp surface details that you are probably trying to capture.
If you want to get even a hint of lunar craters and shadows, you’ll need to adjust your camera’s exposure settings. To do this, you can use your camera’s metering mode. This feature is usually found in your exposure settings, and it measures and analyzes the light from a specific area to adjust your settings so that the area is properly exposed. With spot metering, you choose a smaller area. Instead of the night sky, your camera will focus on a specific location (the moon) and adjust the exposure accordingly. However, these exposure settings are easy to adjust yourself.
Your camera’s exposure depends on three factors: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity , also called the “exposure triangle”. Here’s what each of these three settings mean and how to tweak them to get a photo of the moon.
Diaphragm
Aperture is the amount of light your lens lets through, measured in apertures. The wider the aperture, the smaller the aperture (f / 1.0 is quite wide). Narrower apertures will have a larger number, such as f / 11. In fact, f11 is the ideal aperture for moon shots. Moon photography even has a name for it: the Looney 11 Rule . This narrow aperture does not let in too much light, which is ideal since the moon is very bright. According to Wired , you will at least want to stay in the f8 to f16 range. You will be able to see more details such as craters and shadows. The downside is that if you want to capture the surrounding landscape in your photograph, you probably won’t be able to see it because you have a very narrow aperture. However, we will tell you how to cheat this later.
Shutter speed
Your camera shutter speed determines how long your camera’s sensor is open to let light through. The faster the shutter opens and closes, the less light it lets through. When you have a slow shutter speed, you let in a lot of light. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. For the moon, you need a speed between 1/125 and 1/250 of a second. The moon is already bright, so you don’t need to keep the shutters open for so long.
ISO speed
ISO determines how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to incident light. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive it will be to light. If it’s dark, you can take a brighter photo without flash by increasing the ISO . The problem is, it also usually makes your photo look really grainy. When shooting the moon, a lower ISO value (around 100-250) is usually required because the moon is very bright.
Looney Rule 11 falls into the above ranges, but here’s what it specifically requires depending on the moon:
- Full moon : shutter speed 1/125, aperture f / 11 and ISO 250
- Quarter Moon : Shutter speed 1/60, aperture f / 11 and ISO 250
- Thin Crescent : Shutter speed 1/15, aperture f / 2.8 and ISO 250
Of course, you’ll want to play around with the settings a bit to see which produces the best results. However, these ranges should give you a rough estimate. Also, make sure your camera is in manual focus mode for the sharpest possible shot. Focus on the moon, then take a picture. You can also use a tripod to keep the image stable and not blurry.
Choose the right environment
Aside from a bunch of Photoshop tricks, your photo of the moon can be as good as it looks in real life. If it’s obscured by a bunch of clouds, you won’t be able to take such a good photo. For a really bright shot, you can even move out of town a bit to reduce the amount of light pollution you have to contend with.
You can wait until pitch black to get a really bright and clear shot. On the other hand, as Wired points out , the moon looks bigger when it is near the horizon, so you can also try it within an hour after sunset or sunrise.
Finally, keep in mind: A dignified depiction of the moon often means a gruesome depiction of your surroundings. After all, the moon is very bright, so when you underexpose that brightness, everything around you will be dark, as this environment is not as bright as the moon. However, you’ve probably seen images that show both the moon and its surroundings beautifully. This usually happens because photographers take two separate photographs and combine them.
You first take a shot of the moon with the correct exposure settings and then adjust to expose the rest of the scene. The moon will look terrible in the second image, but you can overlay and blend the two in Photoshop ( here’s a good tutorial ). If that’s too much work, just try adding a basic composition like the photo above, where you keep the moon in focus and minimize the background in the frame. Take a picture of it, for example, with the silhouettes of trees in the foreground.
With the right type of camera and lens, you can get great shots of the Moon, even if you’re not a professional photographer. If you don’t have access to the camera or lens you want, renting may be the best option, especially if you just want to photograph certain events.
Photo: Kevin Winter / Getty; Pixabay , John Sullivan