Hidden Hills
February 6, 2023
Photos from last night.
Learning how to photograph the moon has long been one of the greatest joys of a photographer's journey in learning. For centuries the moon has captivated people, given direction and provided hours of enjoyment and wonderment. Being the brightest object in the night sky, it's something photographers of all levels can shoot however, it does take planning and preparation to accomplish. In this article, we will look at how to photograph the moon along with some amazing moon images in the end for inspiration.
If you have previously attempted to photograph the Moon and it came out too small or looked like a plain white spot, don’t be overly frustrated! Every photographer has to go through similar difficulties when shooting the moon for the first time. This sub-genre of astrophotography can be very challenging and frustrating.
Moon photography or Lunar photography is an amazing learning experience, especially if you are willing to experiment a little. You can learn various useful techniques along the way – reducing camera shake in low-light conditions, manually setting your camera (using manual mode), using the looney 11 rule, stacking photographs in Photoshop and even incorporating the moon into other shots.
The moon is bright, but it isn't bright enough to simply snap a photo if you're looking to see much detail in the moon. Moreover, the bright moon has different phases throughout the month and each moon phase will need a different exposure time because of the difference in brightness. Many photographers are fascinated by the full moon and love to photograph it when it is full, but during the other phases, the moon is less illuminated because of its position relative to Earth and the Sun. The phases other than the full moon are because of how the moon is illuminated by the Sun and the shadows help exaggerate the surface features or details of the moon.
To achieve a nicely exposed photo, one where the moon doesn't appear flat nor like an out-of-place object and where you can make out some craters and whatnot, we need to consider many facts to get the exposure right for brilliant pictures of the moon. For example, a crescent moon requires a longer exposure compared to a half moon and a half moon requires slightly longer exposure compared to the full moon.
Once you start to watch the moon, its position and phases over a few months, you will be able to tell when there will be a full moon and when there will be a new moon. You will also know when to watch out for moonrise and moonset and also know the best times to photograph the moon at night or during the day. Moon rises can be especially a spectacular sight to photograph depending on the moon's position and the time it is rising.
If you still struggle with keeping track, there are various apps that will help you to plan when photographing the moon. We have discussed a few later in this article.
Planning For Moon Photography
Before photographing the moon decide on when you want to shoot the moon and how you want to shoot it – close-ups or moon in a landscape. Once you have decided on this, the next step is location scouting.
If you are in a relatively dark area and if you are looking for close-up shots, you can do it easily from your backyard, but if you are looking for a landscape along with the moon, then you need to scout for locations and choose a favourable one. Moonrise and moonset times are the best for moon photos with landscapes.
Decide on what phase of the moon you want to shoot. Depending on this, you will have to choose the time and date. Also keep an eye on the weather so you have some clear skies to photograph the moon. Although scattered clouds can help create dramatic moon images, sometimes it can cause haziness and generate a noisy image.
To accomplish a great moon shot, let's first look at the basic gear you'll need.
The Best Camera Gear
Tripod
A secure base and workstation for your camera equipment are essential to capturing the image of the moon and avoiding camera shake. While you may be able to get away with hand-holding your camera, your best results will, without a doubt, come from mounting your camera on a tripod. (See our article on how to choose a tripod for some good tips). A Telephoto Lens or Long Zoom Lens
In order to help fill the frame and properly show off the moon, the longer your zoom lens, the better. You don't necessarily need the fastest lens, because you'll be on a tripod, but it's best to use telephoto lenses, at least 200mm focal length or longer. Many beginners may also have a 70-300mm telephoto lens in their kit. So it can be a great one to use on crop sensor cameras as it will give an equivalent focal length of about 450mm.
Besides, a super telephoto lens can help to capture a close up shot of the moon where you can image details of the craters on the surface of the moon. Make sure that you use a tripod when using super telephoto lenses to image the moon.
If you don't have a telephoto lens, but your lens can be used with teleconverters, then it is a cheaper option to increase the focal length of the lens effectively giving you a long zoom lens. If you don't have a lens that long, but want to capture some interesting moon shots, you might want to consider using shorter or wide-angle lenses by incorporating foreground elements into the shot (more on that below).
A remote shutter release or a cable release is a great accessory for moon photography. This is not an essential piece, but it's nice to have and helps avoid camera shake and capture better images of the moon. If you don't have one, you can cheat and use the self-timer function on your camera.
Camera
While almost any camera will work, point and shoots rarely produce top-quality photos of the moon, mostly due to the small size of the sensor and it overheating during longer exposures resulting in digital noise. That largely rules out smartphones and iPhones (to a degree). However, there are bridge cameras that come with very long focal lengths that can be used to photograph a better photo of the moon compared to a point-and-shoot, if you use it on a tripod.
A full-frame camera is usually preferred here with a telephoto lens on it. DSLRs, Mirrorless cameras or any interchangeable lens cameras are suitable for taking pictures of the moon. The make is not really that important – Canon, Nikon, Sony and many others all make very respectable cameras in this range that can take great moon shots. Cameras with smaller sensors make it tough, but they can still be used. Recent cameras with small sensor sizes have better low-light performance. Use the camera that you have in hand for a start. The Best Camera Settings For Photographing The Moon
No preset or auto function of your camera will be able to properly meter the moon, so ideally you should consider shooting in full manual mode. At the very least, choose Aperture Priority mode. Also, your geographical location and the current phase of the moon will have an effect on what your camera settings will be, and you will need to adjust for the season of the year and the clarity of the sky. You will also need to take into account the potential for camera shake.
General Camera Settings
Always shoot raw so you can get as many details from the moon and make adjustments to white-balance when post-processing.
It is good to use manual focusing using the focus ring instead of autofocus. Zoom in on live-view and focus to get the images in sharp focus.
Turn off image stabilization when the camera is on a tripod.
If using a DSLR camera, make use of the mirror lock-up feature to avoid camera shake due to mirror slap.
ISO
Digital camera settings should be set to 100 ISO or lower. Film shooters should shoot film of 100 ISO or slower to eliminate noise and grain. Some cameras will have the lowest setting of ISO 200. If you are using a very long telephoto lens, you will need to make the shutter speed faster comparatively to avoid capturing the movement of the moon across the sky. In that case, or if the sky conditions are not too good, you may have to slightly increase the iso.
Aperture
Because you're after crisp, clean shots, shooting at f/11 to f/16, depending on your lens, will be the best place to start. Research your lens' sweet spot to find the sharpest aperture. Using narrow aperture values will require increasing the iso during the waning and waxing moon phases, especially when the moon is less than a quarter. When conditions are bad, you can open up the aperture to about f/8 or f/5.6 but make sure that the images are acceptably sharp.
Shutter speed
The variables are many and include those mentioned earlier, such as the phase the moon is in, geographical location and desired shot, but on a clear night starting at about 1/60th to 1/125th shutter speed on your camera settings should be a great starting point. Depending on the brightness and focal length as well, you will need to make adjustments to shutter speeds.
A slow shutter speed can cause images to become blurred especially as the focal length increases, when you are hand holding the camera etc., and also the moon moves across the sky. Some cameras even have a camera app that can be used to adjust exposure for the setting you are looking to use. Make sure you use a fast shutter speed to get the details sharp on the moon.
What Is The Looney 11 Rule?
There is a “rule of thumb” that is easy to memorize and should get you close to good exposure of the face of the moon – the “looney 11 rule.” This rule is a method of estimating correct exposures without a light meter. For daylight photography, there is a similar rule called the sunny 16 rule.
The looney 11 rule is a very simple guideline intended to give the photographer a baseline to start from when shooting the moon at night.
The Rule: For astronomical photos of the Moon's surface, set the aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO setting.
For example: f/11 at ISO 100 and 1/100th second shutter speed.
Another example: f/11 at ISO 200 and 1/200 second shutter speed.
The looney 11 rule is worth keeping in mind for getting good exposure when you photograph the moon.
Moon Photography – Choosing A Location
A word about where you choose to shoot. Picking a spot to shoot the moon is one of the most important factors in achieving a quality shot. Locations with minimal light and air pollution are the best for night sky and moon photography. Locations with higher elevations will help you to avoid low-lying clouds, fog, etc., so find those locations if possible. Ideally, if you want to showcase the moon itself, which means the moon without any foreground features, you will want to avoid any other ambient light, including street lights and traffic. This may require you to go off on a remote road or into a public park after hours – your backyard may not be the best location for these types of shots, but if you are left with just the backyard for some reason, turn off all surrounding lights and position yourself in a comparatively dark location. Besides the above, try to avoid days when there is moisture in the air, dust, and haze as these can make the moon appear wobbly without well-defined edges. If you wish to stack the moon, these factors can make it quite difficult or even impossible. Colder nights are the best for capturing close-up images of the moon. On the contrary, if you are trying to include a city skyline under your moon shot, you'll need to find a lookout that allows for the twinkling lights below and do further test shots to nail the exposure properly for both the foreground and the moon (bracket your exposures).
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