To photograph the moon, use a telephoto lens on a tripod and expose for the bright lunar surface: start at ISO 100, f/8, and 1/125 second, focused manually. The trick most people miss is that the moon is far brighter than the dark sky around it, so you expose for the moon, not the night. Here's the full method.
In this guide
Why the moon is tricky
Two things defeat most moon photos. First, the moon is small in the sky, so without a long lens it's a dot. Second, it's sunlit, as bright as a daylit landscape, sitting in a black sky, so the camera's meter overexposes it into a featureless white circle while trying to brighten the dark surroundings. Solve both and you get crisp craters and seas.
The gear: reach matters
The longer the lens, the bigger the moon. A 200mm lens shows it clearly; 400mm or more fills the frame with detail. A teleconverter or a superzoom helps. Put the camera on a sturdy tripod, because at long focal lengths the smallest shake is magnified, and use a remote release or the 2-second timer so you're not touching it at the moment of exposure.
Settings and the 'Looney 11' rule
Because the moon is sunlit, daylight-style settings work. The classic 'Looney 11' rule says: set aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to 1 over your ISO, so at ISO 100, use 1/100s. From there, check your result and adjust: if the moon is too bright and detail is washing out, shorten the shutter. Keep ISO low for clean detail, and shoot RAW.
Nail the focus
Switch to manual focus, open live view, magnify the moon on screen, and turn the focus ring until the edge and craters are razor sharp. Autofocus can manage a bright full moon but often hunts, so manual is reliable. Take a frame and zoom into the playback to confirm before you commit.
The moon with a landscape
A giant moon behind a mountain or skyline is the most striking lunar shot, and it's about planning, not luck. Use a planning app to know exactly where and when the moon will rise, shoot from far away with a long lens so the telephoto compression makes the moon huge relative to the foreground, and time it for moonrise at dusk when the sky still holds some light and the brightness of the moon and land are close enough to capture together.
Common questions
- What camera settings should I use to photograph the moon?
- Start with the Looney 11 rule: aperture f/11, shutter speed 1 over your ISO (ISO 100 → 1/100s), focused manually. Adjust the shutter shorter if the surface washes out. Use a telephoto lens on a tripod.
- Why does the moon look so small in my photos?
- Because it's small in the sky and needs a long lens. Use 200mm or more, and for a dramatic 'huge moon' shot, photograph it behind a distant foreground with a telephoto, which compresses the scene and enlarges the moon.
- What is the Looney 11 rule?
- The Looney 11 rule is a starting exposure for the sunlit moon: set aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to 1 over your ISO. It works because the moon is lit by the same sun as a daytime landscape.
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