Camera Settings
Regardless of the moon phase you shoot under, you’ll usually want to use the widest aperture on your lens, such as f2.8. You can calculate your exposure time using the rule of 500. Simply take 500 divided by the focal length of your lens to get the number of seconds to expose the shot. If you shoot with a 50mm lens, take 500/50 = 10 seconds. You’ll also want to use the highest native ISO on your camera that doesn’t cause any highlights to be blown out on your histogram. Under no moon, this will usually be the highest native ISO on your camera (a native ISO is one represented only by a number, like 6400, not by a letter like H1 or H2). Under a bright moon, you may need to lower the ISO to prevent overexposing the image.
Photographs taken under no moon and with no light painting will usually render foreground objects as dark silhouettes. This can be good for objects with interesting shapes, like a saguaro cactus, a gnarled tree, or some of the bizarre rock formations in America’s Desert Southwest. It probably won’t work as well for things with less distinct shapes, like mountains or canyons.
Deciding whether you want to shoot under no moon is ultimately an artistic decision. I often prefer shooting under no moon because of the dramatic starscapes I can capture with no moonlight obscuring the view. Also, I think that silhouettes can emphasize how dark it is and keep the primary focus on the dramatic night sky.
If you want to do any light painting, you’ll generally want to do this under no moon. You can capture the dramatic dark skies, while illuminating some of the foreground with a flashlight.
Shooting Under a Full Moon
The advantages and disadvantages of shooting under a full or gibbous moon are the reverse of shooting under no moon. With the bright light of a full moon, you will get less noise in your images. This can be advantageous if you are using an older digital camera or if you don’t have a lens with a wide aperture that can let in more light.
FullMoon How the Moon Impacts Night Photography Guest Bloggers Photography Tips Photoshop Tips
The Anasazi ruin in Hovenweep National Monument was the main focus of this image. I therefore shot under a large gibbous moon to minimize noise and maximize detail. The bright sky from the moon did obscure the stars, though. Canon 5D II, 24mm, f1.6, 20 seconds, ISO 600.
Another potential advantage of shooting under a full moon is that it will illuminate the foreground and bring out the color and detail in the scene, in much the same way as the sun would. If the foreground is the most important part of your image and you’re not as concerned with capturing a dramatic starscape, you may want to shoot under a full moon.
It can also be good to shoot under a full moon if you’re forced to shoot in an area that has some light pollution. The light pollution can create unnatural colors in the foreground and in the sky, especially in the clouds. The bright white light of the full moon can drown out some of the light pollution. However, if you are too close to city lights, even the full moon will not help much. In this case, it may just be best to find a darker location to shoot.
The biggest disadvantage of shooting under a full moon is that it obscures the light from the stars, and the skies will not look as impressive.
It’s generally best to photograph with the moon behind you, so that it illuminates the front of the object you are photographing. Also, it is usually better to shoot with the moon low in the sky. If it is high in the sky, it can produce harsh light, just like the sun does during the day. Shooting with the moon behind you and low in the sky will also keep the part of the sky you are photographing a little darker and more stars will be visible.
A full moon will be up most of the night. So if you will be facing west when photographing, it’s probably best to photograph early in the night when the moon is low in the sky in the east. If you’re going to be facing east, it’s generally best to photograph early in the morning when the moon is low in the sky in the west.
An interesting fact about the quarter moon (or a 50% illuminated moon) is that it is only 9% as bright as a full moon. This is surprising to many people who would expect a quarter moon to be half as bright as a full moon. However, light from the sun bounces directly off of a full moon and straight back to Earth. Light from a quarter moon has to bounce at a 90-degree angle to reach Earth, and much of that light is blocked by irregularities on the moon’s surface like craters and boulders. The light from a quarter moon therefore obscures the stars much less than a full moon and will often result in more dramatic images.
