How to Get Sharp Moon Photos
The moon itself or a moonlit scene can make a striking photographic image. A blurry picture of the moon often is the result of insufficient magnification, overexposure or motion. To make the image sharp, use the appropriate lens and the right exposure. For landscape scenes that include the moon, you may need filters or post-processing.
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Things You'll Need
- SLR camera
- Telephoto lens
- Tripod
- Graduated neutral density filter
- Post-processing software
Instructions
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Exposure
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Expose the moon according to its phase and position. Use open sunlight exposure values for a full moon directly overhead and increase exposure time or aperture for other positions or phases. Always use manual exposure.
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Shoot ISO 400 film at an aperture of f/16 with a shutter speed of 1/1000 for a full moon directly overhead on a perfectly clear night. Decrease the shutter speed to 1/500 for a gibbous moon, 1/250 for a quarter moon, 1/125 for a thick crescent and 1/60 for a thin crescent.
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Decrease shutter speed by two to three f-stops to compensate for a moon that is low on the horizon or hazy skies.
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Use a lower ISO film or ISO setting on a digital camera to reduce graininess or digital noise, and thus allow more enlargement. Rather than use f/16 at 1/500 with ISO 400 film or ISO 400 digital setting, choose f/8 at 1/250 with ISO 100 for a sharper image.
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Shoot brackets of one and two f-stops over and under your nominal exposures since weather conditions and light pollution make precise moon exposure values unpredictable.
Equipment
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Use a digital or film SLR. Most point and shoot cameras lack the manual controls and long telephoto lenses necessary for photographing the moon.
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Select a prime or zoom telephoto lens of at least 300 millimeters. A smaller lens translates into a smaller image. Sharpness is lost when enlarging an image since there are fewer grains or pixels per square inch.
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Use a solid tripod and remote or timed shutter release to minimize camera movement.
Moonlit Landscapes
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Shoot a full moon low on the horizon in daylight to capture both the moon and landscape in the same shot.
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Use a graduated lunar density filter to dim the moon.
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Mount your camera on a tripod and take several identical shots at different exposures. Use post-processing software to insert your best moon shot into the correctly exposed landscape.
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Tips & Warnings
The moon is easiest to photograph when full, due to its brightness. But if the moon is your main subject rather than part of a landscape, you can select another phase. When the moon is full, it is front lit and looks flat, compared to a side-lit quarter moon that shows distinct textures.
Exposures of more than one second with a lens of 500 millimeters or longer may blur the picture because of the rotation of the Earth, and thus are best avoided.
References
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
