How do you take the moon with a DSLR?

“A digital single-lens reflex is the standard camera people use today,” Hershorn said. “It’s the lens that’s going to make the difference, You want a long lens that’s able to compress.”

Is 300 mm enough for moon photography?

It’s a start,” Hershorn said. “A lot of people have 150 to 600 mm lenses. And to top it off, many digital cameras have a crop sensor. So if I put a 300 mm lens on a camera with a crop sensor, it becomes a 400 mm lens. That’s good. You get the effect of a longer lens.”

Can I take moon photos with a smartphone?

You can, of course. Just don’t expect professional results.

“Do not use the flash,” Swangin said. “Turn it off. And if you can, take your smartphone and put it on a ledge or a fence or some kind of rigid structure, and put the camera on top of that. That will steady it. If you buy a tripod, you’ll also need to get a mount for the camera.”

Can I take photos through a telescope?

You can. It may even be possible to use a smartphone.

Astronomical pictures, of course, are not the same as skyline photos. For instance, an astronomer would want to shoot the moon not on the horizon, but at the zenith, the highest point in the sky, where light-bending and atmospheric distortion is minimal. And shooting that way, you probably won’t have an object in the foreground for contrast — unless a UFO putters by at just the right moment.

“With a smartphone, you might want to go with a spotting scope, anywhere between $60 and $100,” Swangin said. “What you do is focus the moon in the telescope, and then put the smartphone over the eyepiece and hold it at a distance where you see the moon pretty clearly on the smartphone. That’s the simplest way.

“There are also accessories that can be attached to the eyepiece of a smartphone to magnify the image a little brighter,” he said. “You can get them from Amazon.”

To actually mount a camera on the telescope, you will need a device called a C-mount adapter — formatted to your particular telescope. “You buy an adapter that uses the lens of the telescope combined with the lens of the camera,” Swangin said.

Is the supermoon all that super?

To you, yes. To an astronomer, maybe not so much.

“I don’t get thrilled with supermoons. I think other people do. It is the point where the moon is closest, the perigee, and that makes it look big,” Swangin said.

“To me it’s not that special. But don’t tell anybody.”

The last word ...

Need more tips? At your service. Tariq Zehawi, the veteran award-winning Record photographer, is a kind of Avedon of the moon — adept at making her look her smartest. Here are some of his suggestions.

● Use a camera with manual exposure controls, a long lens and a tripod.

● Lenses 200 mm or longer will compress the image and make the moon fill most of your frame.

● Place your camera on a tripod and set your camera to manual with these settings: (a) RAW or highest-quality JPEG format. (b) Turn off image stabilization. (c) Set ISO to 100. (d) Set aperture to F/11. (e) Start with shutter speed of 125th of a second and adjust as needed.

● Underexpose the moon to avoid having it look washed out.

● Use a remote trigger or self-timer to avoid camera shaking.

● Mobile phone apps such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris or Sun Surveyor can help you find the exact location of the moon and advise you where to position yourself.

● For best results, the moon should be close to the horizon.

● Have a building or other object in the foreground for scale.

● The farther you are from foreground objects, the better.

● Practice in advance, before the supermoon.