Manual settings A high dynamic range An ISO range that starts at 100
In photography, lens quality is more important than camera quality—even a basic point-and-shoot camera can take amazing photos with the right lens. So if you have to choose between spending money on a camera or on a lens, go for the more expensive lens. One way to cut costs is to look for a vintage lens. But keep in mind that you’ll need an adapter to fit a vintage lens on a modern camera, which can add to your total. If budget isn’t an issue, look at super-telephoto lenses with focal lengths between 400mm and 800mm. These bad boys can cost more than your camera, but they’ll capture mind-blowing details of the lunar surface.
Get a portable tripod if you’re planning on traveling some distance to shoot and don’t want to lug heavy gear around. If you’re just setting up in your backyard, though, portability might not be that big of a deal.
Before you spring for a separate camera accessory, check your camera’s user manual. Many mirrorless camera brands also have free smartphone apps that you can use for remote shutter release. All you have to do is pair your smartphone with your camera over Bluetooth.
You don’t necessarily need an equatorial tracker if you’re only going to take photos of the moon—after all, it’s a pretty big and bright object in the sky. But if you’re thinking about taking other photos of the night sky, especially focusing on different stars and planets, it’s essential.
A telephoto lens with a focal length of 200mm or greater offers a lot more versatility so you can get a wider range of shots. The size of your lens doesn’t necessarily change your camera settings, but keep in mind that the bigger the lens, the less light you’re letting in.
Make sure image stabilization (IS) is turned off as well. You’re going to have your camera on a tripod anyway, so you don’t need it. You can leave white balance at the automatic or default setting. The moon is exceptionally bright, especially in the night sky, so the default or daylight setting works just fine. If you need to make any adjustments, you can do that in post-processing.
If you want to capture the moon rising or setting behind a landscape, you might take some shots at a higher ISO to get a sharp shot of the foreground, then lower your ISO to take photos of the moon itself. You can merge these shots together in post.
Remember that the moon is a lot brighter than you think it is, so when you’re focusing on the moon, you don’t need to let a lot of light in. You can play around with the f-stop and see what you get, but f/11 is the favorite among lunar photographers.
The closer to fullness the moon is, the brighter it is, so you’ll want to adjust your shutter speed accordingly. If you’re shooting a full moon, you might go as fast as 1/200-second.
It can take some time to find the sweet spot—focusing is an art that takes a little trial and error to get right. If you go out and practice, bring along a white or silver marker that you can use to mark the points you like so you can find them quickly again.
RAW files can be quite large. If you’re planning on a more extended photoshoot, make sure you have plenty of SD cards for your camera or space on your phone. Saving photos to the cloud is also an option.
More rural areas also give you clearer air in general, with less smog than you’d have near large cities. If you’re going for close-up shots of the moon, you’ll get your best photos on a clear, cold night. You can still get some interesting shots of the moon with cloud cover, but you won’t get a lot of detail of the moon’s surface.
For example, you could focus on a building or tree glowing by the light of the moon. If you live near a large body of water, another similar option is to focus on the moon’s reflection over the water.
For example, if you can find a vantage point with enough elevation and distance to minimize light pollution, you could take a photo of a gorgeous full moon rising over a cityscape.
Shooting video instead of still images can be great for this because you’ll get thousands of frames per second from which you can select the sharpest to stack. You can also layer photos taken at different times. This is a great strategy if you want a photo of the moon rising over a particular landscape. You can capture the landscape perfectly, then adjust your camera’s settings to capture the moon perfectly. When you stack those images, it looks like one great shot.
When in doubt, always try converting the image to black and white—it can elevate even the roughest color photos.
If you have stubborn debris on your lens, use a drop of lens cleaner (the kind you’d use for reading glasses) or water on a cotton swab to gently wipe it away, then dry the lens with your microfiber cloth.
If your phone lets you change ISO and aperture settings, set your ISO as low as possible and your aperture as wide open as possible. Start with a fast shutter speed and adjust downward as needed. There are photo apps available as well that give you more control over various settings or allow you to shoot better photos at night. Some of these apps are free, but most of them you’ll have to pay for. [22] X Research source
If you absolutely have to hold your phone, brace yourself and hold your breath as you snap the picture. Keeping your elbows in and bracing them against your torso will also give your phone more stability when you’re holding it.
You might get your sharpest photos at dusk or dawn when the moon is just rising or setting. Since the moon isn’t that much brighter than the rest of the sky at these times, your phone’s camera doesn’t have as much contrast to deal with.
Phone cameras come with a built-in timer, so you don’t need any apps for this. Just adjust your settings so the camera waits a few seconds after you’ve tapped the button to actually snap the picture. Some phones have voice controls, which you can also use to enhance stability and reduce blurriness. [26] X Research source
You can just hold your phone up to the eyepiece and probably get a few shots, but this is really difficult to do and your shots are likely to come out blurry from your hands shaking.
These can be a bit tricky to put on your phone correctly, so try them out before you go out for your photoshoot. You might also need to take your phone case off to get the lens on.
As with a DSLR, converting your image to black and white is an easy editing option that will get rid of a lot of the imperfections that are more noticeable in a color image.
