Comment July’s full moon is special. Not only is it a supermoon—which looks bigger than a “normal” full moon—but it’s the biggest and brightest full moon of 2022. The increased size and brightness is because its orbit is closer to Earth than any other full moon this year. This month’s super moon is known as a buck moon, as the moon appears when male deer, called bucks, sport their newly grown antlers. It goes up Wednesday afternoon at 9:05 pm. in Washington and is set at 6:31 am. next morning. Check TimeandDate.com for moonrise and moonset times in other locations. On Wednesday afternoon, weather fronts along the East Coast and into the Intermountain West will create scattered clouds that may affect visibility. Skies will be clearer in the Central United States and west of the Rockies. The term supermoon was first coined in 1979 by Richard Nolle when he described a new or full moon that is within 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth. In recent years, supermoons have become popular targets for photographers. And to help those of us hoping to photograph this month’s buck moon, I asked local photographers for tips and advice on getting the perfect shot of the moon — from how to plan your shot, to avoiding overexposure of the moon and achieve stellar framing. Below are the photographers’ suggestions for photographing the moon, along with a collection of their photos. I’ve included a few of my own. The camera settings used to take the photos are included in the captions.
The first step in planning a moon photo is to check the timing of sunrise, sunset, and moon phase. —Kevin Ambrose Patience is required and it helps to stay up late or wake up early, depending on the position of the moon. — Chris Fukuda Always use a tripod and remote shutter, either wired or wireless, to avoid camera shake. —Kevin Ambrose Turn off autofocus and lock focus on foreground objects before moonrise. Otherwise, the autofocus may jump during shooting. —Dave Lyons Take lots of pictures as you never know which one will end up hanging on your wall or someone else’s. — Josh Steele Various apps can be used to plan where the moon will be on a particular day. Some popular apps are PhotoPills, Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE), Sun Surveyor, and Planit Pro. Google Earth and Street View are also useful for understanding the foreground view from a particular location. —Dave Lyons Don’t worry if it’s not a perfectly clear night, as low clouds can often create a much more dramatic background with the moon. — Josh Steele
The moon is extremely bright just after it rises above the horizon, and if the moon is overexposed, details are lost. —Kevin Ambrose Underexpose. — Kevin Wolfe Since proper exposure is a challenge at dawn and dusk, consider adjusting your exposures. I will often parenthesize (+/- 1 or 2 stops). —Dave Lyons
Add interest to your moon photo by pairing it with a foreground subject such as the US Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, etc. And when possible, position yourself away from the foreground subject to make the moon appear larger. —Dave Lyons I like to capture moon shots from a distance with a long lens, ideally 400mm or longer. This makes the moon look bigger and more interesting compared to the foreground. — Josh Steele For perfect alignment in photos, you need to measure the elevation angles of how the moon rises, sets, and phases. You can get the information using PhotoPills or Photo Ephermeris (TPE). — Chris Fukuda The closer the moon is to the horizon, the more color variations you will see and photograph. — Josh Steele Windy conditions can create blurry photos because the tripod shakes. And the blur is amplified when the camera zooms in from a long distance. So a fast shutter speed of 1/20 second or faster is often necessary for sharp photos of the moon with wind. — Sasha Lynn It is important that the subject in the foreground is sharp. It is not so important to have the moon sharp because when the moon is close to the horizon, it often appears distorted by the atmosphere. —Dave Lyons I love photos that combine the sight of the moon with a lightning bolt. It’s a rare combination, but it’s powerful when you’re shooting a distant thunderstorm surrounded by clear skies. —Kevin Ambrose While a long lens (300mm or longer) is best when shooting a long distance from a foreground subject, a 70-200mm lens is all you need for many classic DC moon shots. —Dave Lyons
I also asked smartphone photographers for their tips for shooting the moon with camera phones:
Aim a telescope at the moon, then place an iPhone camera close to the telescope’s eyepiece without touching it. Take several photos of the eyepiece and choose the photo that has the best focus. — David Roberts In low-light conditions, you can use the iPhone’s night time-lapse mode with a tripod to shoot videos with longer frame intervals. Open the camera app, then swipe left until you see Time-lapse. Press the shutter button to take your video. — David Jenkins Taking pictures of the moon with a smartphone can be more difficult than with a DSLR camera. Long exposure apps, available from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, can significantly improve the quality of night photos. — Nicole France at Mark Lord Photography
Let us know if you have any tips or suggestions for shooting the moon.
