6 tips for perfect Supermoon photos

Tonight Switzerland shines in a supermoon. But somehow does the moon always look so small and unspectacular in your photos? We have 6 practical tips for you. The advice all comes from 26-year-old Aargau Pascal Erb, who has made a name for himself as a landscape photographer on Instagram.

Preparation is half the work

Thorough planning precedes the first photo. The website Darksky.ch provides information about light pollution and thus the ideal location. You can find out when the moon is using the “PhotoPills” iPhone app, which includes an augmented reality sun, moon, and galaxy planner. App alternatives for Android devices are discussed here.

zoom-zoom-zoom

Smartphone photographers are clearly at a disadvantage when shooting at night. Capturing details of the lunar surface, such as craters, requires a camera with a large focal length. With an additional device, a so-called teleconverter, the focal length can ideally be increased even further.

According to camera professional Erb, a tripod is also required. We recommend a mechanism to activate the shutter release without touching the camera. Because even the slightest shock rendered the photo unusable.

Avoid distracting light

The moon surrounded by houses gives a beautiful image and it is advisable to also include the environment in the moon image. Still, the motto is: “The more distracting ambient light can be avoided, the better.” Sometimes a free field and a lens hood are enough.

Expose correctly

On the first try, the moon photos often fall into the shadows, because the brightness of a moon in the sky is often underestimated. Pascal Erb’s tip: “Start with aperture priority (Av), manually set the ISO to a low value (say, in the range of 100-800), then check the suggested exposure time.” If this is nice and short and guarantees a shake-free image, you can transfer the values ​​to manual camera mode. Then you’re ready to go. Important: The longer the focal length, the faster the shutter speed should be.

Focus well

Focusing in the dark is not easy. According to Pascal Erb, you first need to focus on the moon using autofocus, then you can switch to manual focus mode and keep the settings.

Snap a lot!

Anyone who often photographs celestial objects knows that the objects move – and faster than you think. In addition, almost inconspicuous influences can affect the image quality, such as vibrations from the ground caused by a passing car.

In post-processing, you will therefore often notice that one or the other shot is not as sharp as expected. Erb: “That’s why you always have to take several photos – and, if desired, also different motif variants.”

Ambitious aerial photographers who use the stacking principle when processing images with special software, need many images of one and the same subject anyway.

(dsc/sda)