How to photograph the moon on your phone or camera with the right settings

When a full moon rises, many people will pull out their mobile phones to try and take an Instagram-worthy picture, but unfortunately it is really challenging to get a great photograph of.

Two reasons: it is very far away and unless you have a telephoto lens (which makes the moon appear closer than it is) it will always appear as a very small glowing dot in the frame.

Secondly, shooting at night is really difficult. Professional cameras allow you to change your ISO or your sensitivity rating which means you can shoot in low light situations without losing the quality of the image.

So can you use your smartphone camera?

The short answer is yes, but I would suggest downloading an app and shooting the moon through that instead of using the camera that is on the iPhone or Android. Some apps allow you to increase your sensitivity rating, allowing you to shoot in low light. I would suggest making sure there is another element to the image – so capturing the moon as it goes past, say, a beautiful bridge or a mountain. This allows the viewer to get perspective on the size of the moon and also creates a more interesting image.

But even with these apps you might be a little disappointed with the outcome.

In order to take an amazing image of the moon you really need a telephoto or zoom lens – the longer the better. As well as a professional camera and a tripod, also use a cable release or your two-second delay timer to release the shutter. This prevents camera shake when hitting the button. It allows you to not only increase the size of the moon in the frame but to get all the