How to take and edit moon photos.

Capture the full moon.

A full moon occurs when the lunar hemisphere facing Earth is completely lit by the sun. The rising full moon can create a “blue hour” where there is enough light from the moon to illuminate it and the surrounding area. During blue hour, you can catch startling landscapes.

Ruggieri works within this context. “I shoot the moon mainly with a telephoto lens, trying to line it up with landscapes, mountains, or trees to make the moon look as big as possible and add something for scale.”

Share the awe of the supermoon.

When a full moon looks bigger and brighter, it’s called a supermoon. These occur when the moon is closest to Earth in orbit, and this massive dinner dish of a lunar surface gives photographers plenty of opportunity for detailed work showcasing the moon’s surface.

Plan the shot.

Taking photos of the moon requires a bit more planning than some photoshoots. Do some research in advance to determine what phase the moon will be in, when moonrise will occur, and where the moon will be in the sky. On top of that, make sure that the area you’re planning to photograph in is optimal for night photography. While light pollution from cities can be an asset when taking some photos, it can also obscure the beauty of your starscape.

Get good focus and go manual.

It’s very likely you’ll be taking long exposures, and that means getting a tripod for stability. Becoming comfortable with camera settings and equipment — like low shutter speeds, a narrow aperture, and the right lens for shooting — will help give you beautiful results.

Because your subject is far away, focus is essential. Make sure to turn off autofocus and take several exposures at different focal lengths to ensure that you’ve got the moon in your sights.

Avoid heavy ISO.

Adjusting ISO settings can make your camera’s sensor more sensitive to light. This means you can take quicker exposures. But the downside is — the higher the ISO, the more film grain. The standard for moon photography is ISO 100, and most photographers won’t recommend going past 1000 for a clean shot.

Capture the phases.

The moon’s beauty isn’t limited to when it’s full. Photograph all the different phases of the moon to get a sense of how light, shadow, and background can influence a shot. The unlit lunar disc blocks the stars behind it, allowing you to create interesting visual effects. By changing your aperture or shifting focal length, you can play with bringing the moon into the foreground or letting it nestle into the stars behind.

Choose a camera.

“It’s hard to capture the moon with an iPhone. A DSLR camera is a great option. Canon, Nikon, and Sony all make solid DSLRs. Exploring mirrorless cameras can be a useful starting point as well.

Pick a lens.

After the camera, a telephoto lens is an excellent place to start. If you only want to capture close-ups of the moon, a 200mm or 300mm lens can be a pretty solid investment, and getting one with an even larger focal length — such as 400mm — can make for even more detailed work.

Grab a tripod.

The only other equipment you need is a solid tripod. Often, you’ll be taking shots at a fast shutter speed of 1/100 of a second to longer exposures or slow shutter speeds of 1 second. For the former, an f-stop of 1.4 to 2.8 will be effective, while an f-stop of around 8 to 10 is better for the latter. With those settings, a tripod for image stabilization is necessary to ensure clarity of the image.

Explore advanced tools.

From there, you can start to explore telescope lenses, teleconverters, and other advanced tools. However, those tools are unnecessary when you’re first starting out. “Because of the advances in post-processing technology, you don’t need to get the most expensive equipment available. You’ll get an equivalent result with cheaper telescopes and telephoto lenses,” says Ammoun.

Noise reduction.

Night photography requires a higher ISO more often than not, and that generates noise. Photoshop has a noise reduction algorithm that’s always improving. Plus, the Smart Sharpen filter can make micro adjustments that will get you a sharp, nearly noiseless photo.