How to Shoot the Moon

Hooray for my first moon shot!!! I am honestly ecstatic even with the under satisfactory result. I am just happy that I tried shooting it and was able to get the settings right.

I was into my Passion Projects lately because of all these online photography classes hosted by Fujifilm, Canon and Nikon. I've been actively learning about techniques and compositions on different aspects of photography. I've been productive with my passion and it really makes me happy.

And luckily, I was not late to join the #SuperPinkMoonChallenge. April 7 to 8, our night skies will be lit up by the April Moon aka Pink Moon. Also, it's the time where the Moon is closest to the Earth that's why it's a Supermoon. Articles on Internet say that this is gonna be the largest moon this year 2020. I am glad I was able to capture it even though my shots are really subpar.

This photo is the last photo I've taken of the moon. It's the furthest I could get with my lens. So, I used my Nikon D3300 (my first ever camera and entry level DSLR) and 18-55mm kit lens since it's the only lens I have with the highest focal length.

How to take Moon Portraits

First, you have to set your camera to Manual Mode and set your lens' focus to infinity. (By the way, the odds are in your favor if you have a telephoto lens.) Some lens don't have this feature same as my kit lens but check your lens if it has the infinity symbol, turn the knob until you get it. This setting allows your lens to focus all the objects on your frame no matter how far it is. It gives you a wider, in fact, widest depth of field your lens can handle.

Since I don't have this feature, I just tried my best to manual focus the moon until I feel like my eyes gouged out on the viewfinder. And then, I realized that I could use the live viewfinder and zoom in the view to prevent my eyes from getting strained. sigh

So for the settings, you have to adjust your exposure elements: ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed. Tonight, in shooting moon portraits, I've learned to do the Loony 11 Rule.

Loony 11 Rule =  setting your camera at Aperture f/11 and the Shutter Speed is set as the reciprocal of ISO. Example, choosing to have an ISO 100, thus, set your shutter speed as 1/100.

As for me, I chose ISO 100 first, the lowest ISO in my camera so that there'll be less noise. You can opt to choose a higher ISO, thus, setting your shutter to a faster speed, you'll get crisper photos. It's also advisable to use a tripod to prevent any blur/shake done by your hand while holding on the button since slower shutter speed is more sensitive to any movements.

Here's my shot of the moon at ISO 400 and f/11. 

Below is the edited version of the photo above. Post processing done in Lightroom. I just adjusted the Highlights, Shadows, Saturation and also the Temperature, that's why the next photo looks 'cooler' than before. However, I just realized now that the first photo looks more natural, like a real and bright Supermoon haha.

You can really just tweak it the way you like it but I prefer giving it natural tones and not some Pink hue because a literal Pink Moon does not really exist. 🤣😊

Go try these settings out! I was planning to add some other elements, like clouds, to make the photo more authentic, to make it look like it's mine and not look like it's just grabbed from the Internet, but the sky was so clear tonight. So, maybe next time. Haha. Still, I had fun!

With a camera or not, you should go try to see the supermoon! It's still worth gazing upon, something to distract us from all the problems we have right now in the world. It somehow reminds us that the world keeps going on with its routine and that we should, too, also keep going on no matter what. ❤

Summary:

Tools: Camera, Lens (preferably telephoto lenses with max focal lengths of 200mm to 400mm), tripod, excitement and imagination
Exposure Settings: (sample) ISO 100,  f/11, shutter speed: 1/100

I'll get back to you next time! I hope soon I can afford better lenses to give you better images. Haha