Hey what's up everyone, Rafal here with OPT and in this video we are going to
be covering the basics of lunar photography
Now of course I'm not simply talking about taking your phone pointing it up at the sky
and snapping a photo of the moon, although that is something you could do, but with the right
equipment and composition you could create images with the moon that are spectacular.
But before we get into any of that if you guys haven't done so already go ahead and
hit that subscribe button and ring the bell for notifications we have videos
coming out every week and we want you to be the best astronomers you can be.
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like button it really lets us know that you guys are enjoying the content. And
with all that said and done let's get into the basics of lunar photography
The moon is without a doubt the brightest object in our night sky being able to be seen from the
middle of Times Square, and able to light up an entire desert during its full moon phase.
And because the moon is so bright it doesn't require tracking or long exposures like other
types of astrophotography do, which means you could take several shots of the moon in one night
Creators all over the world have been able to capture the moon in
several different ways and create stunning images and compositions.
Some photographers who have definitely taken advantage of the moon are Andrew McCarthy,
Matt Smith and Bray Falls. If you want to see more of their work check them out on Instagram.
Now in order to start imaging the moon in different ways,
it helps to understand the different phases the moon goes through
and how they affect the way it looks. But if you are looking to just learn the
camera settings and focal lengths you can skip to this part of the video right here.
So starting with the basic moon phases you have the full moon which is when the moon is
fully illuminated by the sun. This is when the moon is at its brightest and can illuminate an
entire landscape under the darkest skies. During this phase the moon can be very easy
to capture and it is also very easy to see all of its craters as long as you're looking out
for werewolves. The only hiccup about a full moon at least from a photographer's standpoint is that
all of its craters are lit as well limiting any details you might be able to capture.
After the full moon phase you have the gibbous phases this is when the illuminated side of
the moon is convexed towards the dark side and then opposite the gibbous phases you
have the crescent phases which is when the moon has its very popular crescent shape.
It's also during these two phases that the craters of the moon are much more defined
since the angle of the sun creates deep shadows within them bringing out the finer details.
Between the gibbous and crescent phases you have the half moon phase which is
pretty self-explanatory, and finally you have the new moon which is when the moon is between the
earth and the sun and the dark side of the moon is facing us rendering it completely invisible.
The new moon rises and sets roughly at the same time as the sun so even though you can't shoot
the moon during this phase this allows for the darkest skies leaving you to shoot many other
targets in the meantime. All those phases of the moon rotate about every 29 and a half days
but there are some lunar events that aren't as common and therefore need a bit more planning.
The first one is the super moon which is when the moon is slightly closer to the earth during
its full moon phase making it appear about 15 percent brighter. And by the way guys
this year's super moon will be happening on May 21st - so be sure to mark that on your calendars.
You also have the "harvest moon" which is when the moon rises within closest proximity to the
start of autumn. It's significantly larger during this time and gives off a brilliant orange glow.
And just so you know this year's harvest moon will be happening on October 20th.
After that you have the lunar eclipse also known as the "red moon" or "blood moon" which is a
result of the earth passing in between the moon and the sun. The red glow is caused by
the residual sunlight hitting the moon after it passes the Earth. And if you're watching
this from southeast Asia, Australia, Western South America or parts of the western US,
you're in luck because the next blood moon will be visible on May 26th this year. So
definitely mark that on your calendars because it's going to be an incredible experience.
And finally, we have the solar eclipse. Even though it's called a solar eclipse
the moon is still half of this event so we're going to mark it as a lunar. It goes without
saying that solar eclipses are one of the most incredible events to witness during the year.
If you want to learn when this year's solar eclipse will be and if you're
going to be in the right spot on the planet to see it, check out this video right here.
So with all these different phases and events that the moon can go through
there's always a new way to capture it with your camera which means
the next thing you need to do is figure out how you want to shoot it. So like I mentioned earlier,
because you don't need long exposures or tracking to shoot the moon you can have a
very productive imaging session and leave the night with a ton of different photos.
Depending on the moon's phase and position in the sky, your composition and camera
settings are going to change. You can choose to shoot the moon on its own which may require
some longer focal lengths since you're probably going to want to fill the frame,
or you can shoot landscape shots with the moon which opens up more options.
When it comes to longer focal lengths, you'll definitely want to make sure you have a stable
tripod to shoot with. You could shoot the moon without a tripod like we'll show in a second
but you're going to lose a lot of stability. If you're shooting with something like a 70 to 200
millimeter then you could get away with snapping a photo handheld, but it's when you start crossing
over to longer focal lengths like 600 and above that a tripod becomes your best friend.
Okay, we're going to play a little game I'm here with Mack, he's got a canon 6d with a 150
to 600 millimeter lens attached to a doubler which creates a focal field of view equal to
1200 millimeters. We're gonna try to capture the moo. Handheld image stabilization is turned off,
optical stabilization is turned off. We're gonna try to get the moon as centered as possible
in the frame. You get three tries, so first big thing is to find the moon which is very
tough - it's like finding a needle in a haystack but there we go now let's focus.
A little bit off to the left, all right now, let's do another one. The the hardest part
about this so every movement is just amplified by two times and it's already been amplified.
Last one let's do this. Nope, alright your turn. Alright see, I'm what you call
a one take wonder. I'm gonna nail it on the first try. Did not nail that one.
This would be a lot harder with a smaller sensor luckily we're shooting on a full frame.
If this was like an APS-C or a micro four-thirds this would be significantly harder.
Oh it's not bad we're just trying to get it in the middle. I think I could do better. We
got one more try. Alright, I got it and no, that didn't work so that was fun.
Mack, what did you think. That was fun. I had a good time, it was a lot easier to get the moon
sharp because we were shooting at what like one two thousandth of a second. If we were shooting
at something like at one 125th, chances are the moon would have been blurrier. But
anyway guys, my photos are at the top. Mack's photos are at the bottom
Let us know in the comments who you think won. So clearly, the longer your focal length is the more
stabilization you're going to need, and the other thing you're going to want to keep in mind is that
the longer your focal length is the faster the moon is going to move through your screen - simply
because you're zooming into a smaller part of the sky for the moon to pass through.
So it's best to know where the moon will be when you start using longer focal lengths.
And have an easy way to adjust your camera smoothly to keep it in frame.
Let's talk about camera settings. The good news about camera settings is that they're
pretty simple and consistent throughout any brand you might have - whether it's a DSLR
or a mirrorless camera. First and foremost we're going to set our camera to manual mode. This is
still astrophotography so we're going to want to make sure that our noise is as low as possible,
meaning you'll want to set your camera's ISO to its lowest setting.
Again since the moon is a bright object you'll want to close your aperture and get it exposed
right so setting it to an f-stop of 8 or above will do just fine. This will keep your moon
exposed well and minimize any fringing you might have. If you were to shoot at something like an
f 2.8 or lower or you can go with the f11 rule which is when your aperture is set to f11 and
your shutter speed and ISO match. For example ISO 1000 with a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second.
Keep in mind the more closed your aperture is the more in focus everything will be and that
includes any dust you might have on your camera sensor or the lens. This shouldn't matter very
much because you're shooting into a dark sky, but as the moon starts to fill up more of the frame
you might start noticing splotchy artifacts in your image. A good way to check if your sensor
is clean is to close your aperture as much as you can and point it at the sky while it's
still daytime. Make sure you expose for the sky with your shutter speed and ISO but keep
your aperture closed. If your sensor or lens is dirty you'll see dark spots randomly in the sky.
You can buy sensor cleaning kits to get rid of any dirt on the center,
just be careful when you do this because you are touching the sensor after all so no pressure.
So with your ISO set to its lowest setting and an f-stop of f8 or above
the next thing to do is to adjust your shutter speed to bring the details of the moon into
proper exposure. The final thing you're going to do is make sure that the moon is in focus.
You could digitally zoom in on a high contrast part of the moon like a crater
or the edge of the moon to make sure it's as sharp as possible.
As you get to longer focal lengths your image will start to shake when you try to focus
so it might be easier to use auto-focus or if you can use a remote or an app to focus instead. This
also applies to capturing the shot. If you're shooting at something like 1200 millimeters
you'll definitely want to use a remote shutter or your camera self timer to take the shot without
touching it, and with the right camera settings you'll end up with a shot that looks like this.
And because this is photography there are endless creative ways to snap a
photo using the same settings just with the moon in a different part of the sky.
Check out this photo taken by Mack during a time when the moon was closer to the horizon.
So the key things to remember when you want to capture the moon are number one - have a
camera that you can set to manual mode so that you can adjust the ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
Number two, make sure your sensor and lens are clean to avoid any splotches in your images.
Number three, adjust your exposure making sure your ISO is low and your aperture is at about
f8 or higher - or if you want you could just follow the f11 rule to make it simpler. Again,
keep in mind your settings will change depending on the brightness of the moon.
Number four, if you are shooting on a longer focal length make sure you use
a tripod and a remote shutter to make your images as clean and as sharp as possible.
It also helps if you turn off your lens stabilization.
And finally number five, if you plan on stylizing your images even more with landscape shots or with
the more uncommon phases of the moon, planning ahead will help ensure you get the shot.
After learning the basics, there are a ton of different ways you could capture
the moon - it really depends on your creativity.
In future videos, we are going to cover more advanced techniques like stacking and
pulling out the colors of the moon. If you guys like this video, please just destroy
that like button, give us a thumbs up, and leave your thoughts in the comments belo.
Remember to subscribe if you haven't already, and ring the bell for notifications.
My name is Rafal here with OPT and we'll see you in the next video. Clear skies!