The moon is one of the celestial bodies that bewitches us the most. Eternalizing it in a photograph is something that has occurred to all of us – and surely, we have all tried – but most of us fail. Compared to the unusual beauty of the moon, our attempt at photography only reduces it to a kind of diffuse and priceless lighthouse.
But take a perfect photo of the moonwhere it looks sharp and its details can be appreciated, it is possible: even with your cell phone.
It is not as easy as taking other, let’s say, more “earthly” photographs. But the results are extremely satisfactory. Furthermore, knowing how to photograph the moon with your cell phone will help you capture it in its best moments: those where it dresses in red – the blood moon – or intense blue – the supermoon –, or simply when it is buoyant in the full moon; phenomena that happen several times a year and some of which still await us in 2018, including the longest eclipse of the century.
But let’s start with these hacks to photograph our fascinating satellite with our cell phone.
What you have to know
Cell phones are not made to take astral photos (not even the latest generation iPhone). The lens is too large, the zoom causes too much noise and the shutter has little ability to modify the light entry.
However, if you plan your shot well, you can take a photo that reflects the natural beauty of the moon.
1. Planning the shot
You should know that the best time to photograph the moon is when it is just rising on the horizon; This will prevent it from being too bright. At the same time, the luminosity of the image must be reduced, as well as the exposure level to -1 or 1- EV. The photograph will not be blurry – which usually happens in dark photos – since the moon will provide enough light to avoid that.
Make sure you focus on the moon and hold your cell phone firmly. This way you will obtain, at least, an image in which you can see some details of the surface.
Adjuncts
You can also get some accessories for your cell phone. There are, for example, camera lenses that really turn your cell phone into a professional camera. They are small and very practical, as you can see in the following video:
There are also cell phone tripods, which can be used to keep the camera stationary and no longer worry about ruining the photograph with your own pulse. Great, right? Plus, this way you can make incredible time-lapses.
A great hack: use a telescope
You just have to make sure that no light leaks between the telescope and the camera, for which you can use your left hand while taking the photo with your right. If you go out somewhere with little light pollution, the shot can turn out even better. And the best thing is that this way you don’t necessarily have to stick to the moon just rising over the horizon, but you can photograph it at any time of the night with good results.
2. Apps
There are several apps that can be very helpful in your mission with your cell phone:
PhotoPills (available for both iPhone and Android) will give you many tools that will make planning and taking moon photos easier. Likewise, it will be useful for other stellar photographs, as it allows you to visualize any star and gives you information on everything you need to know about them (best times, phases, events). It can even help you plan and calculate parameters so that, with a tripod, you can capture a phenomenal time-lapse.
Manual (for iPhone) and Camera FV-5 (for Android) allow you to modify more aspects of your camera settings than the factory applications.
Night Camera Lite (for iPhone) and Night Camera (for Android) will allow you to take better night photos.
Another incredible app is Hydra (although it is only available for iPhone). It will help you reduce the “noise”, increase the resolution and, therefore, be able to use the zoom without worrying about ruining your photo.
3. Editing
Finally, you can edit your best moon photos without much fuss using apps like Lightroom. Almost all of them will benefit from doing a color balance, to avoid one color dominating – for example, red, when trying to take an eclipse.
This way you will have the best one, ready to show off on Instagram or any social network.
* Images: 1) RideApart; 2) Burrito Justice; 3) Getty Images; 4) DMTrends