How to photograph the moon at night on a DSLR parameters. How to photograph the moon: An easy way to capture moon shots full of detail. How to Photograph the Moon: Equipment Needed

Greetings! Again with you, Timur Mustaev. What kind of objects photographers do not undertake to shoot. They are not at all afraid of their unusualness or complexity. The types of photography that require a lot of effort include photographing, for example, celestial bodies, in particular the stars and the moon. And for the most courageous, today's topic is how to photograph the moon with a DSLR.

A beautiful full moon, for example, is very common. This has happened many times in my life. But I didn't have a camera with me at that time. But this does not upset me, and I will definitely find my "Moon".

Main difficulties

Do you remember how you yourself or someone tried to photograph this beautiful satellite of the earth on your phone, when there is no camera at hand? Agree, I want to make a high-quality image so that the lunar disk can be seen in detail, and not just as a bright spot in the black sky.

Of course, the point is both in the capabilities of the phone and in the settings themselves. With a DSLR, such as Nikon or Canon, it is quite possible to realize the idea.

You can use not only professional photographic equipment, but also budget models, for example, take pictures with the canon 600d, Nikon d3100, Nikon d5100, etc. show themselves well in this matter.

The specificity of the moon as the main subject, in my opinion, is obvious to many, even non-professional photographers.

There are two options for shooting time:

After sunset or before dawn;
At night.

The difficulties increase markedly when preparing the camera for the second situation, when the lighting becomes noticeably less.

Firstly, with the onset of night, the moon becomes higher and higher, farther from us, therefore, you clearly need to take a picture of it in all its glory.

It is even better to wait for a certain period when the moon approaches the earth as close as possible. It was so very recently - in November of this year (2016), and is also expected in mid-December.

Secondly, the brightness of the moon is very high, its contrast with the sky becomes striking in the dark. Although there is a plus: no need to worry about displaying the color of the sky, because it is just black (dark blue), and focus on the moon.

Moon photography stages

So, let's move on to practice how to photograph the moon step by step:

1. Preparation and shooting

a) Camera setup

For this case, we choose. We set three main parameters:,. Do not worry too much about the white balance, you can put it on auto or choose one of the proposed modes, in which the image will go into colder or warmer shades.

Regarding photosensitivity (ISO), the advice of most experts, and mine too - do not increase it unnecessarily. We don't need noise.

Acceptable shots in twilight conditions (late evening, early morning) can be obtained at values \u200b\u200bof 100-200. Somewhere up to 400, and with a good camera up to 800, the grain is not so visible in the picture.

The aperture is set as standard for landscape photography - about 7.1-9. If the picture is completely dark and the optics cannot cope with these values, then open f when shooting the moon, perhaps a slight bokeh will appear around it, but this is not essential. In the future, it is planned to cut out the object from the photo.

If you can not be too fooled with the aperture, then what kind of shutter speed is needed?
Again, in the case when it is not dark yet, it will be adequate to set 1/100, even 1/160. But with the onset of night, such indicators will not pass, you need to significantly reduce - 1/30 and then 1/15, that is, increase the exposure time, thereby letting more light through the lens.

From now on it is worth using. We take a tripod just so that we can increase the time on the camera without risking creating negative vibrations.

But there is one nuance here that can affect the image. Since the moon is still moving noticeably across the sky, a slow shutter speed (in the region of several minutes) can make the picture blurry due to the fact that it will catch exactly this movement of the main subject.

In addition, any breeze can shake your tripod during this time frame, unless it is made of durable material and is stable enough. Therefore, it makes sense not to get carried away with varying the shutter speed on the camera.

To photograph exactly the disc of the moon, it is better to use spot metering.

Better to use manual focus for precise focusing. With automatic, there is the possibility of a slip. You can use the mode to make it easier to see the focus.

In addition to working with equipment, by default, the task is to scout in advance the area from which you will shoot, and roughly determine the future composition.

On the Internet or using a special application on your phone, you can easily find out the time of sunset, the appearance of the moon and its movement across the sky. Key point the presence of clouds will appear: if these are rare clouds, then the lunar disk will look even more interesting, periodically peeping out from behind them; with high clouds, nothing will come of it.
Consider all of these factors for a great shot!

b) Photography

After adjusting and setting up the camera, take a photo of the lunar object as enlarged as possible, focusing exactly on it. The second frame is the general landscape. In order not to miss the settings and focusing, as in the dark it is even more difficult to do, organize a series of shots.

2. Processing

Be sure to shoot in, this will allow you to better process your shot.

The more difficult the subject and conditions of photographing, the more you have to mess around in the photo editor after. Our case is no exception. Besides the fact that it is worth adjusting such standard parameters as color, clarity, saturation, grain, etc., you can also do cropping if you are interested.

To do this, you need to take 2 photos:

As close as possible to the moon (long-focus lens);
General background (no magnification).

Having made two pictures - the moon and the general background, they need to be combined. Despite, most likely, the unnaturally increased size of the lunar disk, in general, the picture should look harmonious, without the obvious intervention of Photoshop. The main recommendation when overlaying a photo is to leave enough space at the top of the photo. In this case, the moon can be obscured by a tall object (building, hill), which will not reduce its attractiveness.

As you can understand, we figured out the main points, one of the difficult situations - how to photograph the moon at night or at dusk.

Does it really seem too difficult to you now? I hope not already. Don't be afraid to try and do something for the first time. In the end, you grow as a photographer, gain experience and improve your own skill.

The main thing is to prepare and arm yourself with any SLR camera that has quite wide photographic capabilities - nikon, canon, sony, for example.

As you know, every self-respecting photographer should know well, firstly, his SLR camera, and secondly, to know graphic editors such as Lightroom and Photoshop. Based on this, I want to recommend the following courses that once helped me out, as well as those to whom I recommended them.

or My first MIRROR... If you are a beginner in photography and do not understand your sLR camera... The course will help you understand all the intricacies of your camera.
... The course is dedicated to the graphic editor Lightroom, which is designed specifically for photographers to make their work easier. The course describes how to competently work with Lightroom, as well as what it is capable of and what it is good at.
... This course begins familiarization with such a "great" graphic editor as Photoshop. The video course contains all the basics for its correct understanding. A very simple, understandable and at the same time very useful video course.
... Rounding off my collection is a video course designed specifically for photographers. From the course you will learn how to correctly process photos, how they do it professional photographers.

DSLR for Beginner 2.0 - if you have NIKON, this is the course for you.

My first MIRROR - if you have CANON, this is the course for you.

Lightroom is an indispensable tool for the modern photographer

Photoshop from scratch in VIP 3.0 video format

Photoshop for the photographer 3.0. VIP

That's all for me. Happy readers of my photoblog! I wish you productive photo sessions! If there are practical recommendations and additions, share in the comments, it will be interesting to read.

All the best to you, Timur Mustaev.

Pictures of the large moon over landscapes in the vast majority of cases are the result of what is called a double exposure. Even when the Moon approaches the Earth at a minimum distance, as happened relatively recently, it is too small to fill the frame of a conventional camera. However, there is a way to overcome a distance of thousands of kilometers and present the Moon in an interesting perspective.
On May 5, 2012, the Moon was at perigee (the point of closest approach to the Earth). The same thing happened in March 2011, but in both cases it was too far away and the pictures showed a little more than a small coin. To be precise, in March 2011 the Moon was at a distance of 356,575 km from the Earth, and in May of this year at a distance of 356,955 km.

Canon EOS MK III camera with 400mm lens

When shooting with a wide-angle lens, the moon appears as a small disc high in the sky

No matter where you are on Earth, you can only observe the large moon if it rises slightly above the horizon. The higher the moon in the sky, the smaller it appears. And high up in the night sky, the Moon is just a small dot, especially if you are using a wide-angle lens to capture other objects, such as a building or a monument.

1. Long focus lens or telescope

If you don't attach your camera to a telescope, even a 400mm lens is not enough to take pictures of the big moon. And the trick here is to take two pictures with different exposures, and then merge them into one.

Shot with 400mm lens, camera with APS-C sensor

The small picture shows full frame and its dimensions. On the large one there is a cut out part of it and exposure settings. Shot with 400mm lens, camera with APS-C sensor.

First you need to take a picture of the desired object, and then take a picture of the moon in the same place, in order to create the final image later. Or you can shoot the moon in another more interesting location. Create a library of interesting images of the Moon for future reference. Remember to warn viewers that your work is editing.

2. The solar rule of sixteen

Since the Moon is far away and surrounded by a dark sky, many are unable to correctly expose. Camera sensors concentrate on large dark areas and require more light than necessary. As a result, the Moon looks like a blurred disk without outlined details in the pictures. Just remember that, in fact, the Moon reflects sunlight, and therefore it is recommended to use “ solar rule of sixteen". A shutter speed setting of 1/125 at f / 16 and ISO 100 should do the trick, especially with a full moon.

Keep one component unchanged and change the rest

When setting the exposure, keep one component unchanged, and change the rest until you achieve a good result. In this photo, the aperture was kept constant at f / 8 and the shutter speed was varied for optimal results. The camera was on a tripod.

3. Make calculations

Installations for " solar rule of sixteen"Can be considered initial. If the image is too dark, you should either increase the shutter speed or open the aperture wider. If you're using a tripod, it doesn't matter which settings you change. One thing is important - to work fast enough. Up to 1 / 15th you can feel quite comfortable, but remember that larger lenses will slow down the shutter speed. The larger the lens, the more noticeable the movement in the frame will be.

If you hold the camera in your hands and shoot with a lens of, say, 400mm, you need to slow down the shutter speed. Settings of 1/500 at f / 8 will create the same exposure. If the picture comes out too dark, open a wider aperture. The last resort is magnification, which is not difficult to do in modern cameras.

4. Remember the main thing

Remember the following as it is important. You cannot shoot the moon at long exposures. Due to the rotation of the Earth, a white line may appear in the sky in your images. But if you switch to slower shutter speeds and use a tripod for clear images, you can try the mirror lock function along with the remote control. Another solution to the problem is to use the camera's timer in conjunction with the mirror lockup function to reduce vibration. Use a stable tripod, not these cheap supermarket crafts that can't stand even the breeze.

Final snapshot

The large shot is an example of photomontage. The little one shows the real picture and indicates that the moon is not that close to the castle.

After you have taken a picture of the Moon, take a photo of the landscape in which you want to insert this picture. The illustration above serves as an example of how to do this. When shooting a landscape, leave enough space at the top of the frame to fit the moon there. Knowledgeable people will immediately understand that this is a photomontage, but here the general concept of creating such images is simply described. The castle on the mountain, used as an illustration, is located in Central Africa in a mountain range known in ancient times as the Mountains of the Moon (now called Rwenzori).

The small image in the illustration shows that when you shoot a subject from a distant distance, elements of the image such as the castle and the moon visually appear to be the same size, and this allows you to take pictures in which the moon really looks large, without resorting to all sorts of tricks.

Moon always attracted the attention of people. The mysterious distant planet has always been surrounded by clouds of myths, rumors and secrets. Sometimes the lunar landscapes are so beautiful and expressive that even novice photographers uncover their simple soap boxes (or mobile phones) in the hope of capturing this miracle. Unfortunately, the results of such spontaneous filming are often more than depressing. In this article, we learning to photograph the moon.

When is the best time to photograph the moon

It's no secret that the moon can be seen even during the day. Sometimes on a clear cloudless sky a narrow sickle suddenly appears, sometimes a little more. But we will never see the full moon during the day. why?

Everything is very simple. To see the full moon, we must have the sun on the opposite side, that is, beyond the horizon. Therefore, we must have night, or at least evening. Taking pictures of the moon during the day is not very interesting. It is faded, dull and expressionless.

The moon is easiest to photograph on a dark night. It is bright, clear. Since the sky around her is almost black, you don't have to worry about how to somehow convey its color.

The most interesting, but at the same time difficult to execute, are the shooting of the Moon at sunrise or at sunset at dusk. Usually, these are the most picturesque paintings. Imagine a quiet summer evening, all the work in the garden has already been completed, you look up from the garden and suddenly see a large full moon above the horizon, bright and yellow like a polished copper coin.

If at heart you are more of a photographer than a gardener, then you immediately wash your hands of the oily black soil, grab your camera and rush to the village to shoot this magical landscape against the backdrop of a forest, river or something else, quite beautiful.

Indeed, if you know how to properly photograph such landscapes, they turn out to be simply excellent.

My brother, the famous photographer Artem Kashkanov, shows
how to properly photograph the moon

How to properly photograph lunar landscapes

When shooting at dusk, all novice photographers have the same problem. I'm not even talking about the fact that some people shoot such landscapes in auto mode with a flash :)

The point is that the moon in the evening sky is a fairly bright object. If you tune your camera so that the evening landscape itself turns out well, then instead of such a bright and beautiful moon in the photo you get just a white spot. If you shorten the shutter speed, the Moon itself will turn out very well, but the landscape will be very dark, barely visible.

Moreover, if a photographer sees in front of him a real landscape with a large and beautiful Moon, which he just wants to photograph without stopping, then in the photograph it usually turns out to be just a bright small dot.

What to do?

What is the best way to photograph the moon?

Alas, I would be the last villain if I said that a beautiful lunar landscape can be obtained even using a camera mobile phone... At some stage in the development of technology, this will probably be possible, but now we need something more serious.

It is better to use a film camera with a telephoto lens for shooting the moon. Why film? Everything is very simple. The dynamic range of photographic film is noticeably wider than the analogous parameter even of professional digital cameras. Thus, in order to get a beautiful photo of the Moon against the background of the evening landscape, take out your old Zenith, go to the store for a photographic film (sensitivity no more than ISO 100) and get a telephoto lens somewhere. Naturally, all this had to be done in advance, and not rush around the evening city in search of an open photographic store where they sell film.

However, it is quite possible to shoot the Moon with a digital SLR if you know how.

Next, here are some photographs that I took from the balcony of my own apartment. Using these photos as an example, you can understand what parameters should be set when shooting lunar landscapes. Photos are given without any computer processing.

Photo 1. Time 7:59. ISO 320, shutter speed 1/50, aperture 5.6, focal length 400 mm.

Despite the fact that the sky was already bright, I had to make it darker due to a faster shutter speed. Otherwise, instead of the Moon, a bright spot would turn out.

Photo 2. Time 8:09. ISO 100, shutter speed 1/30, aperture 4.5, focal length 100 mm.

I hope you remember the rule: the lower the sensitivity, the less noise the matrix, the better the photo. In order to get a city, the exposure is increased. The result is obvious - the drawing on the moon is not readable.

Photo 3. Time 8:27. ISO 100, shutter speed 1/100, aperture 4.5, focal length 100 mm.

As the sky gets brighter and brighter, it becomes possible to convey not only the image on the surface of the moon, but also the landscape below it. If you slightly modify the "ground" in Photoshop, you get a pretty decent picture.

Photo 4. Time 8:28. ISO 100, shutter speed 1/100, aperture 5.6, focal length 400 mm.

This picture was taken almost immediately after the previous one. The only thing that has been changed from the settings is focal length and, accordingly, the diaphragm. Note that as you get closer to the horizon, the outlines of details on the surface of the Moon become more blurred and the edges more ragged. This is due to the effect of "jitter" in the atmosphere.

Photo 5. Time 8:40. ISO 100, shutter speed 1/160, aperture 5.6, focal length 400 mm.

The closer to the horizon, the larger the Moon appears. However, the less clear it turns out. We look at the moon through a thick layer of air, which, unfortunately, is not as transparent as we would like. In this and the next photo, the sky and the earth are slightly cropped.

Photo 6. Time 8:44. ISO 100, shutter speed 1/160, aperture 5.6, focal length 400 mm.

And in conclusion, here is such a fantastic picture. If I had not seen the whole process, but had casually thrown my glance in that direction, I would have been quite surprised and would have wondered for a long time what kind of dome appeared on the horizon. After all, the details on the surface of the moon are now completely impossible to distinguish.

Than closer the moon towards the horizon, the more rapidly its "fall" becomes. This is the moment when the photographer must be very attentive and capture the most interesting moments. For example, the passage of the moon behind the pillar, etc.

Sun and Moon in the frame at the same time!

This photo was taken with a regular, not professional Canon EOS 300D DSLR with the simplest kit lens. However, let's forget about the technical shortcomings of shooting for a second and be surprised: both the Sun and the Moon are present in the frame:

If I had noticed this situation earlier, when the sun has not yet completely set, the picture would have been even more interesting. Theoretically, nothing is impossible and for you to make such a photo. You just need to properly calculate the date when such a combination will be possible, guess so that the weather is good and go ahead.

How to photograph a lunar eclipse

If you become aware that a private will take place soon, or even better, total eclipse of the moon, this is a great excuse to spend a night in nature, get some fresh air and, at the same time, do great pictures... Photographing the Moon during an eclipse also has a number of secrets and features.

Of course, you understand that you need to arm yourself with a long-focus lens and a tripod. The most important thing is not to miss the moment of the beginning of the eclipse. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is a long process and, accordingly, it begins very smoothly.

Then it is worth filming all the phases of the eclipse, including the moment when one narrow sickle remains from the moon.

By the way, even during a total lunar eclipse, you can still see the dark part of the moon. It is visible due to sunlight passing through the earth's atmosphere and partially scattered by it. Your camera will see this especially well if you slightly lengthen the shutter speed:

Here again it is worth paying attention to the fact that the use of high-quality optics and matrix can significantly affect the result. For example, take a look at this photo:

Then, in 2004, it seemed to me that this photograph was quite clear and of high quality. However, I no longer think so.

In this article I will show you how to photograph the moon. And not even just the moon, but a landscape with the moon. I will say right away that the task is not easy. But the result can be very, very interesting. It's worth working for. First, let's decide when is the best time to shoot. Of course everyone saw the different phases of the moon. Such sickles, with different widths of the illuminated part. Every day, the sickles get wider and wider, until finally the full moon comes.

Oh, these days of the full moon! Poetic time! I want to read poetry, fall in love, compliment girls. But this time we will not do anything about it. Because we're going to shoot the landscape with the moon. Although you can take the girl with you. She will not only inspire you, but also serve as a detail in the frame, an element of the foreground.

The full moon is also important for us for the following reason. The fact is that you need to shoot a landscape with the moon during the moonrise. Those. when the moon just appears above the horizon.

First, at this time, the brightness of the lunar disk is relatively low. It is quite comparable with the brightness of the foreground, with the details of our future landscape. In other words, all the elements of our image will be displayed adequately and will not require any special post-processing in Photoshop.

Secondly, while the moon is not high above the horizon, it is easily composited in the landscape, in other words, it is adequately combined with the ground details of the foreground of our future image.

But keep in mind, the moon rises very quickly above the horizon. Therefore, the shooting time is very limited. About 30 minutes. But do not rush to send the model girl to the starting position. A little more astronomy.

It is important to know that the time of moonrise is not constant. Each subsequent lunar rise shifts in time by 20-40 minutes forward. Here, watch her. And you will see that the moon can rise in the morning and in the afternoon and at night during its month.

On full moon days, the time of its rise is very close to the time of sunset. Poetically speaking, full moon days are the time when the sun, as it were, meets the moon. As if looking at each other. Well, then the sun hurries over the horizon to rest. And the moon remains the main one in the sky.

Here is another very important astronomical subtlety. Two days before the full moon, our night star rises before sunset. With a difference of a few minutes. In two days it will rise after sunset, at the end of twilight, practically in darkness.

Therefore, these two days before the full moon are very important to you and me as photographers. They are the ideal time to shoot a landscape with the moon.

Let us imagine a lunar month as a series of days characterizing a certain phase. In this case, the day of the full moon will be the 15th day of the lunar month. And the optimal time for shooting our landscape will be the 13th and 14th days of the lunar month. True, these days the illumination of the lunar disk is not quite full, somewhere around 98-99%, but visually it is almost imperceptible.

Write these dates in your diary, for going to shoot the sunset at 13 and 14 lunar days, you will be able to shoot not only the usual sunset, but also the rising of the moon. It will be enough just to turn around with the camera in the opposite direction.

Another important feature. The moon rises above the horizon in the same place where the sun rises in the morning - in the east. In summer, the place of sunrise shifts somewhat to the south, and in winter to the north.

Therefore, it will be extremely useful if you decide in advance where you will shoot. Choose the location of the future shooting in advance.

An ideal location where there is an open horizon to the east and southeast. Well, if there is a large body of water, then there is a chance to include a beautiful moon path in the frame.

No open horizon? Then look in the city for beautiful forged trellises, domes, and other architectural forms for the foreground. Perhaps just ordinary residential buildings in which the lights are already on. It would be nice to climb to the ninth floor. Then the horizon will immediately appear, if it was not there before.

And you can also try to shoot the moon over factory chimneys, or waste heaps, if you have something like that in the city. Or, for example, mountains, this is generally an ideal place for such shooting.

Well, if you still decide to shoot the moonrise in the field, then I strongly advise you to find a shooting point near some hill (hill), or on the hill itself. In order to change the shooting point from the upper to the lower as the moon rises above the horizon.

Now it remains to clarify when these most favorable 13 and 14 lunar days come. Everything is very simple here. There are enough resources on the network where this data is available.

For example site RP 5, where, in addition to the weather forecast, there is data on the time of sunrise and sunset and the moon, as well as information in what phase the moon is on a particular day.

Or type in the search engine the phrase "lunar calendar" and you can also find out the current lunar day. And there are also specialized resources, where, in addition to the time of sunrise and sunset, there is data on the exact direction of sunrise for a particular place.

Now about the shooting technique. A telephoto lens on your DSLR is highly desirable. The longer the better. In order to convey the moon as large as possible.

The lens aperture is not so important in this case. Because we still have to cover the diaphragm a little. How much will depend on the presence of the foreground in the frame.

Already at a focal length of 200 mm for a camera with a cropped matrix, the lunar disk is transmitted quite large. But with lenses with a focal length of 300 or 500 mm, the result can be even more interesting.

If you don't have such a lens, then shoot with what you have, and don't worry too much about it. Because your imagination and your perseverance will be able to overcome any technical inconsistencies or lags, and it is not at all necessary to inscribe the moon on the entire frame.

Remember, for example, Kuindzhi's painting "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper". There can be a lot of options for the layout of the future shot. A tripod for such shooting is very, very desirable, and in some cases is simply necessary.

It is very important not to overexpose the lunar disk so that the characteristic pattern and relief of its surface are not lost. Therefore, when photographing in one of the semi-automatic modes, in the camera settings, be sure to set negative exposure compensation, for example, -0.7 or - 1.0. This will prevent possible loss of details in highlights.

Let's consider the option of shooting a lunar landscape using one of my pictures as an example. The shooting day was chosen according to the calendar. It was the 14th lunar day, that is, one day before the full moon. The moon rose at the same time as the sun went down.

The shooting was carried out on the banks of the Dnieper, from a high steep bank. The width of the river in this place is about 500 m. Shooting mode - aperture priority. Exposure compensation -1.3EV. The focal length of the lens is 65 mm.

There was no possibility to use a longer focus. Because then it would not be possible to include interesting foreground details in the frame.

The manual exposure mode is very useful when shooting at dusk. It is more flexible than semi-automatic modes... And the correctness of the exposure can be controlled by the monitor and the histogram. Shoot preferably in RAW format. This will allow you to correct inaccuracies in the exposure later.

I wish you find new ones, interesting ideas for shooting scenes with the moon. And if you have questions, then write, ask, always ready to help.

Photographing the moon is not as easy as it seems at first glance. This article covers composition techniques, camera settings, and lighting tips for photographing the moon.

The moon is a pretty tricky subject for photography. It turns out to be brighter than you originally thought, forcing you to tinker with the exposure. And instead of a huge, impressive disc that we imagine in our imaginations, we get a small dot of light that delivers nothing but disappointment.

There is a misconception that "lunar" photographs require expensive equipment. Yes, you can spend thousands of dollars on long lenses, but it is also true that you can get fantastic results using the equipment you already own.

Once you have mastered the tips in this article, you can learn to photograph the moon as well as the professionals, thus getting excellent results, regardless of your experience and budget.

We take into account the phase of the moon

Since the Moon revolves around the Earth, the sunlight hits it at different angles and as a result we get different phases of the Moon, or, more simply, different appearance The moon.

Knowing the phases of the moon is very useful when photographing it

The moon looks and feels differently in different phases. The full moon is the brightest, but it looks quite "flat" because the light hits it frontally. The moon between the first quarter and the full moon, as well as the quarter moon, are of the greatest interest because in these phases, lateral illumination falls on the moon, which creates shadows, thereby allowing craters and mountains to be shown on the lunar surface. The crescent, the darkest of all the phases, emphasizes the dullness and uninteresting nature of the night sky.

Choosing the time for shooting

The best time to photograph the moon is at dusk, just before sunrise or just after sunset, when the moon is close to the horizon. At this time of day, the sky is illuminated with faint residual light, which allows you to highlight surrounding details and add interesting colors to the sky and clouds, thereby creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Photograph the moon at dusk to create an atmosphere.

Arrive early so you can get ready and set the appropriate settings, as the lighting levels change rapidly during this time. At different phases of the moon best shots are obtained in different light levels, so take as many shots as possible during dusk to increase your chances of getting a stunning photo.

Try shooting at night for photos of a well-defined moon against a pitch black sky, especially with long lenses. The moon is also visible during the day, although not so clearly, and in this case it acts more as an addition than the main subject of photography.

It is good practice to use a lunar calculator to determine the correct moon phase and sunrise and sunset times.

Fill the frame

If you can afford a long telephoto lens, you can surely get some fantastic, detailed photographs of the moon. You will need the longest lens you have. 300 mm is the minimum distance, preferably 800 mm or more.

To detail the lunar surface, you will need a long-focus lens.

Most digital SLR cameras have a cropped sensor. This means that you will have more effective focal length than a full-frame sensor. Read more about the crop factor in the article.

To save money, you can combine multiple telephoto lenses into one. For example, with two 2x teleconverters and a 200 mm lens, an effective focal length of 800 mm can be achieved. The quality of the picture, of course, will decrease, but this is better than shooting with a standard lens.

Use an interesting foreground

Don't be discouraged if you don't have the money for a telephoto lens - there is good news. You can get great photos with any lens, even wide-angle ones - the main thing is to build the appropriate composition.

Use foreground objects to add context.

Instead of looking at the moon as the main subject of your photo, bring some objects in front to create an interesting scene. Photographing the moon through grass or mountain silhouettes adds atmosphere, so short throw lenses are not a disadvantage.

However, this technique has a drawback. It is often almost impossible to get both the moon and the foreground well exposed. If you have the slightest doubt about the exposure, underexposing the foreground is better than overexposing the moon. After all, you can take two shots, one with the correct exposure of the moon and one with the correct exposure of the foreground, and then combine them in Photoshop.

Reducing vibrations and increasing clarity

The moon is very sensitive to camera shake, especially when using long lenses. The slightest movement can cause a blurry shot. Therefore, it is important to minimize vibrations. For this.

Use a tripod.A stable tripod is essential. By itself, it will almost completely reduce camera shake and protect against external disturbances such as wind.

Use remote release.Use a starter cord or remote remote control to eliminate jitter caused by pressing the shutter release button. If you don't have these attachments, use the release timer to achieve the same effect.

Use a mirror lock.Even the movement of the camera mirror can blur the photo. Mirror lock opens the mirror before you take a picture. If your camera has this setting, use it for extra clarity.

Choosing camera settings

One of the fundamental and most difficult things about photographing the moon is choosing the right settings. Due to the huge variety of shooting conditions, it is impossible to determine any universal settings. However, there is a regulated selection process that must be followed.

Manual shooting mode.Automatic mode will not cope with a bright moon in a dark sky, so you need to switch to manual mode. The selection of parameters should start with an aperture of f / 11, the lowest ISO value (say, ISO 100) and a shutter speed of 1/250 sec. Use autofocus to focus on the moon, then set focus mode to manual to lock focus.

Experiment.Take a test shot and view it on the camera screen, zoomed in to estimate detail and exposure. Adjust the settings as you see and repeat the process. When using very long lenses, try not to set the shutter speed higher? sec to avoid smudging. Much slower shutter speeds can be set when using wide-angle lenses.

Use bracketing.Using bracketing can do you well. This means that even if you did not guess with the settings, you may still have at least one picture that can be drawn in graphic editors.

Cheating inPhotoshop

You can use image editors to make your photos look the way you imagine them to be in your imagination. For example, you can combine multiple images so that both the moon and foreground are properly exposed, or even increase the size of the moon for the perfect composition.

The use of graphic editors is a very controversial thing, but sometimes the result exceeds all expectations. This photo composites two different pictures with different exposures.

This question gives rise to two rival camps, one of which insists that photographs should be subjected to minimal or no digital processing. However, even professional photographers sometimes sin with this, and, no doubt, sometimes the result is simply breathtaking. Who to join the camp is a private matter for everyone.

Moon photography is somewhat of a challenge to your abilities and skills, and the reward for this challenge is a great shot. It is a process that needs to be learned and needs to be improved. And when you master it, you will get countless great pictures.

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