Gear and Settings for Moon Photography
Photographing the moon, and doing it well, are often goals in the education of any photographer. Being able to capture detail and dimension, doesn’t have to be for the expert level photographer. It does take a few pieces of gear and a basic understanding of manual camera settings.
This blog will break it down easily and to the point – lets be real no one likes to read lengthy posts for the information they are looking for. So let’s get to it!
Gear
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Camera (obviously) – but more importantly one that you can adjusted the manual settings. Not all cameras have this option.
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A Tripod – This will help position the camera and keep it steady for those lower shutter speeds (I’ll get to that). The tripod will help reduce camera shake.
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Shutter Release Cable – Not necessary if you know how to use the self-timer function on your camera. This will help avoid camera shake!
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Zoom Lens – The longer the better. Often beginners have a 70-300mm lens in their kit. This is the perfect time to break it out.
Settings
General – always shoot in raw – this will get you as many details from the moon as possible while giving you the ability to adjust white-balance in post-production.
Manual Settings
- ISO – lower that ISO! This may seem counter intuitive and you are in a dark environment but you want the high quality without the noise of upping the ISO. I will show you how to compensate for that in the next two settings. Starting with ISO at around 100 is a good starting point.
- Aperture – This is where you may need to experiment with a few f-stops. Start at around f/11 working your way up to an f/16. Too much light with wash out your image and too little will leave it too dark. You’ll need to use a little trial and error in this.
- Shutter Speed – Now you may think – well I dropped that ISO so low I’m going to have to have a super low shutter speed in order to let more light in… well not as low as you might think. Start at around 1/100. Much like aperture you will need to play around with the settings up or down. Aim for between 1/60 to 1/125.
My Settings
The below image of the moon was taken at the following settings:
ISO – 100
F-stop – 1/13
Shutter – 1/100
Some final thoughts...
I’d love to hear about your tips on photographing the moon! Or see your examples if you used my tips and tricks!
