Capturing the moon in a photograph

Those images of a scene with a bright, but perfectly clear moon are fantastic, and I have hopefully succeeded with some of my own, but why are many of the images we take unsuccessful? Well, it is to do with two distinct things. The first is that the moon is actually sitting in full sun. It may not seem like it, and it is a long way away, but the reason it shines is that it is the equivalent of daytime where it sits! As a result, our cameras need to set an exposure level that is not too different from what you would set for a photo during the day. Of course, the conditions surrounding us are far from in daylight and so a camera left to its own devices would just average out the light levels, be heavily influenced by the dark sky and surroundings and decide to expose the photo for that. As a result, the sky and surroundings look OK, but the moon is a bright white blob in the sky.

This balancing act is easier to achieve earlier in the evening when the sky is not as dark and there is still residual light from the setting sun as in this image from Washington DC:

From almost the same location as the Iwo Jima Statue is this classic view of the DC monuments with a full Harvest moon rising above the Lincoln Memorial with Washington Monument and Capitol building aligned — Classic view of the DC monuments with a full Harvest moon rising above the Lincoln Memorial. Prints and other products available here.

Incidentally, these sorts of moon rising images are pretty popular among photographers in Washington DC. Here is a view of my surroundings when taking this image:

A gaggle of photographers waiting for the moon to rise over Washington DC

A little secret that many photographers make use of is that they photograph the moon to give it a proper exposure and then they photograph the rest of the scene to properly expose that. With a bit of Photoshop magic, they combine their moon image with the surroundings as though it had all been done in one exposure. Maybe cheating, but it does actually reflect what our eyes actually see. It is just that cameras are not as good as our eyes at balancing light and shadows. I used that technique in this image of the moon setting over the bay at Hanalei on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The moon was there, it was just too bright for the rest of the scene.

Bay at Hanalei in Kauai with the Na Pali mountain range in the background. Taken just after dawn with the moon setting behind clouds on the horizon — Hanalei Bay in Kauai with the Na Pali mountain range. Taken just after dawn with the moon setting behind clouds on the horizon. Prints available here.

Harvest Moons are perhaps the most popular, with much more of an orange tint as the moon rises. This final image is one of mine taken in Morgantown as the moon rises behind the famous WVU Coliseum. I think this was actually called a Super Pink Moon although I forget now just why that was! I hope you enjoy the picture though!