Shoot The Moon!

Have you ever shot a picture of the moon, and where disappointed to find that your photograph was of a blown out orb hanging in the sky? This is a phenomena that befuddles many photographers. The solution is really common sense. The problem is simple. Your camera is set for the lighting conditions of where you are at, not the lighting conditions of your object. 

When we look at the moon, we are seeing the part of the moon that is lit by the sun. Although it is night time where you are taking the picture, it is broad daylight on the moon (at least the part that you can see).

The Above photo was shot with an ISO rating of 200, at a 1/125th sec shutter speed, and an iris set to f5.6. That is right, the camera is set to take a picture in daylight conditions. (I probably could have cranked that down to an f8). There is some adjusting to do on a photo by photo basis, When the moon is full, we are looking at it being directly lit. When it is a "new" moon, the side directly being lit by the sun faces away from us. That is why we can not see the new moon. The phase between show us a part of the sunlit side, and a part of the shaded side, and the "dawn/dusk" section in between.. The above photo was taken in Florida. It was in a small town, in a residential community. The clear sky, and lack of smog made the moon very clear. 

 The photo to the right, was taken with the exact same setting, and same lens (Canon 70-300mm zoom).  However, this was taken in Los Angeles's beautiful San Fernando Valley. The angle of the sun to the moon made the moon darker, and the smog blurred the details a lot. This is why it is important to review your photo, and make adjustments. Is it a bit blown out? Close the iris a stop, or speed up the shutter speed. To dark? open it up. Go with a slower shutter speed, or a faster ISO. Is it blurry? Open up the iris and go with a faster shutter speed. Still blurry? go someplace without as much smog.

Below is a diagram of the moon phases using a ball and a 100w Fresnel to simulate the sun and the moon. The camera placement represents the earth relative to the sun and moon. A crescent moon is actually a 3/4 edge light. a half moon is a side light, and a full moon is a front light.

So remember, If you want a good photograph of the moon, get a long lens, take your camera off of auto, and set the manual settings as if you were shooting in the middle of the afternoon. Snap some shots, review them, and adjust as necessary. Also, if you live in a place with a lot of smog (like Los Angeles), drive out of town a couple hours. Enjoy some fresh air. it will do you some good. Now let's all go shoot the moon!