Moon & night sky

[Pola]

Hi All 

I'm quite new with photography and wondering what settings you are using when taking pictures of the moon and sky at night? 

I would love to take picture of stars and moon together 🙂

Any help will be appreciated

Thank you

Pola

[LensBrew]

Astrophotography is an amazing venture, and is easily achieved but their are some physical limitations you need to keep in mind.

You can photograph the moon at any location you want. Even though it is visible at night, it is still reflecting the sun's light. You will need to close down your aperture, increase your shutter speed and keep you ISO to about 100. Now the longer your focal length the better, you'll capture more details and need to crop less. And speaking of cropping, higher megapixels sensors can give you more leeway while cropping. Now the latter is not a must, but it is an advantage. The last moon shots I got I was at 400mm, ISO 100, f/5.6 and shutter speed at 1/500th.

As for starts, and could be extended to other astral bodies, you need to be in an area that has the least amount of light pollution. There are websites to help you determine those areas. Otherwise you'd have to deal with the extra light coming into your sensor. There are 2 rules for choosing the shutter speed, I suggest you experiment and see which one gives you the best result. As for the aperture, you'd need a fast lens, preferably f/1.4. You can increase your ISO if needed while trying to be careful with how much noise you are willing to tolerate. The shot I took was auto 8s, ISO 400 and f/1.8. And you want the moon to be a new moon.

I used the 14mm f/1.8 GM lens for the stars image, while the 100-400mm GM for the moon image. And you might consider sensor modification, it basically removes the filter from the sensor giving it the ability to capture IS and UV rays.

[Pola]

Astrophotography is an amazing venture, and is easily achieved but their are some physical limitations you need to keep in mind.

You can photograph the moon at any location you want. Even though it is visible at night, it is still reflecting the sun's light. You will need to close down your aperture, increase your shutter speed and keep you ISO to about 100. Now the longer your focal length the better, you'll capture more details and need to crop less. And speaking of cropping, higher megapixels sensors can give you more leeway while cropping. Now the latter is not a must, but it is an advantage. The last moon shots I got I was at 400mm, ISO 100, f/5.6 and shutter speed at 1/500th.

As for starts, and could be extended to other astral bodies, you need to be in an area that has the least amount of light pollution. There are websites to help you determine those areas. Otherwise you'd have to deal with the extra light coming into your sensor. There are 2 rules for choosing the shutter speed, I suggest you experiment and see which one gives you the best result. As for the aperture, you'd need a fast lens, preferably f/1.4. You can increase your ISO if needed while trying to be careful with how much noise you are willing to tolerate. The shot I took was auto 8s, ISO 400 and f/1.8. And you want the moon to be a new moon.

I used the 14mm f/1.8 GM lens for the stars image, while the 100-400mm GM for the moon image. And you might consider sensor modification, it basically removes the filter from the sensor giving it the ability to capture IS and UV rays.

@LensBrew thank you so much for all your advice! You have fantastic pictures 🤩

[CarolineJensen]

My biggest tip is to have a SOLID tripod. There can be a bit of lens breathing at long focal lengths which make long exposures a challenge. I learned this one the hard way! 

[aart5955]

For photographing the moon (on a tripod) I use a zoomlens preferably with a low f number, Aperture priority, AF-S or MF, Spot Lightmetering, Low ISO, 1/160. Focus on the edge of the moon.

[DonSmith]

The key to remember if photographing the moon in the sky with no landscape is that the moon is lit by the sun, so just spot meter on the moon. My rule is: If it is a crescent, I just allow it to overexpose. If it is a half to full moon, I want to capture the detail of the moon. There are many variables that can affect exposure (i.e. clouds and pollution in the sky) so have highlight alert turned on (zebras) and adjust accordingly. Also, shoot from a tripod. With my moon shots, I try to blend the full moon with the landscape and have one chance per month on both ends of the day. For sunset, it is usually, but not always, the evening before the full moon and for sunrise, it's generally the morning of the full moon itself. An excellent software for calculating moonrise and moonset relative to your position is The Photographer's Ephemeris. Moon photography is always fun as well as shooting the night sky when the moon is not up.

[Drew_Geraci]

The best tip I can offer is to make sure you match your shutter speed to the focal length you're shooting at for the best possible (and sharpest) exposure for the moon. The best time to capture the moon is right at dusk when you can shoot at lower ISOs and higher shutter speeds (around 1/600th is a solid SS to use when the sun still has ambient light in the sky. ) Using a 400mm+ lens will also yeild the best results if you're looking for detail. The 2x and 1.4x extenders add too much softness on the lens if you're planning on using that with something like the 70-200mm. Either way, make sure you use a tripod and a remote trigger for the sharpest possible shots. Happy shooting! 

[LensBrew]

@LensBrew thank you so much for all your advice! You have fantastic pictures 🤩

Thank you for the complement. I also want to recommend to use a star and moon tracking app. They are necessary for planning your shots.