Shoot the moon

A good quality telephoto lens and a rock-solid tripod setup will render excellent moon surface detail

One of the best times to shoot the moon is before and into twilight, as it’s easier to expose for the landscape as opposed to shooting it under a pitch-black sky. Use an app like PhotoPills or The Photographer’s Ephemeris to plan out where the moon is rising and setting, its trajectory across the sky and its phases, and determine whether you want to capture a crescent or full moon.

It’s also a good idea to find out about the three types of twilight; photographing the moon over a landscape generally works better through Civil (the brightest stage), though it’s possible to create great images during Nautical (second phase), especially with other light sources in the scene.

During this time, earthshine can be caught on camera – the section of the moon within the earth’s shadow. Lowercalibre telephoto lenses force you to use a sweet spot in the narrower aperture range (f/8 to f/11), so you’ll need to implement higher ISOs or slower shutter speeds.

1

Sharpness

The key to sharp moon shots, both wide and telephoto, is a completely stable tripod set-up. Use a remote control or built-in timer on the camera. Longer lenses can pick up movement vibrations up to five seconds after firing the shutter.

2

Detail

Good-quality telephoto lenses render excellent moon surface detail at lower f-stops (4-5.6), allowing for a faster shutter speed of 1/60 sec – or faster if possible. Adjust the ISO to give you this speed, and your f-stop to balance the scene.