Thankfully the clouds broke and we were able to see what we were after. Generally, the moon is my photographic nemesis. To win the battle you just need to remember, it is really bright! I have found the best way to photograph it (without having to blend exposures) is to use the follow recipe.
- Set your camera to manual and shoot some test exposures. You want detail in the moon…otherwise it’s going to look like the sun.
- Use a long lens. Unless the moon is huge (even larger than super moon huge…which will never happen) you want the moon to be front and center. A small moon dangling in the distance of my landscape isn’t what I am after. I came to shoot the moon, so I’m going to focus on it. I shot this with a Nikon 70-300 VR on a Nikon D7000. With the crop factor I was shooting a 400mm lens, handheld…simple, manageable set up.
- Find a foreground to add some perspective. This is key! Also, if you find something cool to put in front of the moon, you don’t have to wait for the super moon. Just zoom in on any old moon, with a cool foreground element, and you will have a cool perspective to share with you friends.
Great tips Justin. After seeing everyone’s super moon shots yesterday, I knew that I had missed and opportunity due to the cloud cover that I had.
Very well done. Clever use of the crop factor to extend your telephoto. I’m thinking of keeping my D7000 body for just this reason.
Nice Moon and well place foreground elements!