Photographing the moon is not as difficult as you imagine, KEE friends. There are several things you need to pay attention to:
1. Know the stages of the moon
The moon always moves around the Earth, so there are several different phases of the moon and they will give different results when photographed. For example, the full moon is the brightest phase of the moon but the light is flat. Gibbous moon can cast a shadow on the moon and still be quite bright. Meanwhile, the crescent moon is the darkest phase and has the smallest shape.
2. Good timing
The recommended time to photograph the moon is when the moon is close to the horizon, namely before sunrise and after sunset. When there starts to be light in the sky and it gives interesting colors to the sky and clouds. You can come to the place early so you can prepare your equipment and get several photo options.
You can also take photos at night to get the beauty of the moon. Use the moonrise and moonset calculator to find out when the moon phase is exactly what you want. You can check here: https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/
3. Photo Composition
To show the beauty of the moon, you can adjust the composition, for example by taking just the moon object. To get these details, you can use a telephoto lens with a minimum focal length of 300mm - 800mm. Apart from that, you can get around this using teleconverters. For example, if you have a 200mm lens, with 2x teleconverters you can get a focal length of 800mm. But please note that using converters can reduce image quality.
There is another alternative for those of you who don't have a telephoto lens, you can photograph the moon by playing with the composition. You can add objects to the front to make the photo more interesting. For example, using plants on the front. This way, you can use any lens, even wide lenses. But the disadvantage of this method is that it is difficult to get the right exposure. You can use an ND filter and take 2 shots, one with a dark background, the other a detailed photo of the moon and combine it with Photoshop.
Photo by : Wendell
4. Reduce camera vibration
You need to keep your camera from shaking so that your images don't blur. You can use a tripod, shutter release to press the shutter button from a distance, and use mirror lock up to open the mirror first before pressing the shutter so that the photo is not affected by the camera opening process.
5. Camera settings
With changing shooting conditions, there are no definite rules for settings. You can use manual settings using f/11 aperture, ISO 100, and shutter speed 1/250 second, don't forget to use auto focus. Try taking a few photos and adjust the settings to your shooting conditions.
6. Edited with Photoshop
You can combine 2 or more images using Photoshop to produce stunning photos.
