Alex’s top five tips for photographing the moon in a landscape setting

1 Planning is everything

Landscape images of the moon are unlikely to come about by chance. You need to know when and where the moon is rising and setting and have a plan for how to capture it. Tools like PhotoPills and The Photographers Ephemeris (also available in 3D) are invaluable in helping you achieve this.

2 Full moon or crescent moon?

The best landscape images including the moon are generally taken when the moon is close to the horizon and there is a certain amount of ambient light, generally at twilight. This only occurs around full moon and crescent moon.

3 Use your telephoto

If you want to create impactful images where the moon is physically large in the frame, you need a focal length equivalent in excess of 400mm. The image above is taken at 560mm and cropped slightly.

4 Keep it sharp

At long focal lengths, you need to think about shorter shutter speeds, to keep the moon from blurring due to its own motion. Shorter shutter speeds help to counteract the effects of the wind on picture sharpness as well. However, with relatively little light to work with, this is a balancing act – don’t bump those ISOs too high!

5 Shoot wide for crescent

T he crescent moon in particular benefits from being shot at wider focal lengths, because it’s generally further from the horizon when the light balance is right. An otherwise empty blue sky with a small crescent moon can give a sense of peaceful minimalism.