How to photograph the moon: Tips on camera gear, settings and composition

How to photograph the moon

When it comes to taking pictures of the night sky, photographing the moon is a fascinating and rewarding experience for photographers of all levels. Luckily, it’s also one of the more straightforward astrophotography skills to master, so it’s a great place to start for beginners in astrophotography. The moon is a great target in all its phases, but the full snow moon on Feb 1, and the blood moon eclipse on March 3, will be the perfect target.

From brilliant full-phase photographs to dramatic crescents and even the aforementioned blood-red eclipses, there are a number of different styles of photography you can capture — depending on the phase of the moon and the prevailing weather conditions — but like any form of photography, it still requires the right blend of the best astrophotography cameras, technique and creativity to get the most out of your images.

In this guide, we’ll delve into the essentials of moon photography and list some upcoming celestial events you might want to consider taking photos of. We will also look at the best camera equipment to use for photographing the moon, how to consider composition and style, and, perhaps most importantly, which camera settings to use.

Blood moon eclipse and other moon events in 2026

One of the biggest highlights for moon photographers in 2026 will be the total lunar eclipse (a "blood moon") on March 2-3, 2026. During this event, the Moon passes fully into the Earth's shadow and can take on a rich copper-red tone for nearly an hour. The eclipse will be visible late at night into the early morning hours, with the best views in the western half of the US. In the east, observers will see part of the eclipse as the Moon sets around dawn.

Another strong target arrives on August 27-28, when a deep partial lunar eclipse will be visible across much of the US. Although the moon won't fully enter Earth's shadow, a large portion of its surface will darken.

August also features a major solar event. On August 12, a total solar eclipse will cross parts of Europe, Greenland and Iceland, with Iceland offering some of the best viewing along the path of totality. While not a lunar photography event in the traditional sense, it showcases the moon's silhouette blocking the sun and allows photographers to capture the solar corona and diamond ring effect. Just make sure you have solar filters and the best solar viewing equipment ready in advance.

Toward the end of the year, the closest supermoon since 2019 arrives on December 23. This full moon occurs near perigee, making it appear larger and brighter than average — an effect that's most noticeable at moonrise and moonset, when it's ideal for pairing with landmarks and landscapes. Here are all the full moon dates in 2026 to add to your calendar.

Finally, there are several attractive moon/planet pairings, including a close alignment with Mercury on February 18 and a crescent moon near Venus on March 20. Both are visible shortly after sunset and work well for wide-angle shots that combine the moon with colorful twilight skies.

How to photograph a total lunar eclipse

Most of the suggestions we’ve included below work just as well if you’re capturing a moon event like the eclipse, but there are a couple of other things to bear in mind in addition to location, weather and setting.

Shutter speed — when the moon is in totality (meaning it’s fully eclipsed), you’ll have to adjust the shutter speed for brightness. We’d recommend experimenting between 0.5 and 2 seconds during this phase, as the sky around the moon will be a lot darker and you’ll need a longer setting to bring out the detail.

It’s also worth getting yourself to an area with limited light pollution, as any light in the area will be accentuated and you’ll want a darker environment to really bring the best out of the moon’s colors during the eclipse.

Best camera gear for moon photography

While you can photograph the moon with almost any camera, a DSLR or mirrorless camera will offer the best results due to its versatility and image quality. But, if you have something a little more compact, like a small point-and-shoot such as the Sony RX100, you’ll still be able to get decent results if you pay careful attention to the size of the sensor (1-inch and up recommended) and the aperture size of the lens. Something like an f/1.8 should work well.

Most importantly, any camera you use should allow you to manually adjust settings like shutter speed, aperture and ISO, which are crucial for moon photography. Many of the best astrophotography cameras also have dedicated astro features.

For those just getting started photographing the moon, entry-level DSLRs or mirrorless bodies are the best bet, and the Canon EOS Rebel series, Nikon D3500, or Sony Alpha a6400 would be good starting points to capture basic images. You can even capture decent pictures of the moon with your smartphone, and there are telephoto lens attachments and apps that allow manual settings. The process of digiscoping will also allow you to get a reasonable moon picture if paired with the right binoculars or scopes.

When it comes to more professional models, if the budget allows, we would highly recommend the Nikon Z8 or the Canon EOS R5. If you’re looking to print big or take your photography into more commercial realms, the Sony Alpha 7R series would be a good bet.

For an alternative route to photographing the total lunar eclipse, some of the best telescopes can produce stunning images, and a smart telescope will track and photograph the eclipse for you!

Best lenses for moon photography

A good lens is perhaps the most critical piece of equipment for moon photography. Since the moon is a small and distant object, a telephoto or super-telephoto lens is ideal, but there are still images you can take on a more modest budget, providing you look for something with at least 200mm of zoom that’s not a kit lens.

Aim for a lens with a focal length of at least 200mm, but lenses in the 400mm to 600mm range provide better detail and larger images of the moon. Prime lenses generally offer sharper images, but zoom lenses provide flexibility, especially if you want to include surrounding elements in your composition — we’ll touch on composition a little later on.

Good examples of the kinds of lenses to look at include the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II, the Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR and the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM.

Accessories for photographing the moon

Unlike many other types of astrophotography, you can capture good images of the moon without many accessories, as it’s normally bright and clear enough. However, to achieve the sharpest and most detailed shots, a degree of stability is required, especially when using a large zoom lens.

A sturdy tripod ensures your camera remains steady, preventing motion blur, and using a remote shutter release or the camera’s timer function minimizes vibrations caused by pressing the shutter button.

If you’re looking to get a little more adventurous, there are a number of additional accessories you can purchase such as moon-tracking mounts. These are equatorial mounts that rack the moon’s motion across the sky, enabling longer exposures without blurring.

Also, in terms of image quality and the final output, we’d recommend using a neutral-density (ND) or polarizing filter, which can reduce glare and enhance details, especially during bright moon phases when it may be difficult to expose both the moon and the surrounding landscape accurately.

Composition and style for moon photography

Photographing the moon is more than just capturing a glowing orb. Incorporating thoughtful composition and style can elevate your shots from ordinary to extraordinary.

A close-up shot with a long lens is perfect for highlighting the moon’s craters, ridges and surface textures, but wider shots that include the moon in a landscape or cityscape create compelling narratives. The moon rising over a mountain range, a crescent moon peeking through trees or a full moon reflected in a lake all give a sense of belonging and “being” to your images, and separate the terrestrial and the celestial.

Avoid placing the moon dead center unless you’re emphasizing symmetry and consider including foreground elements in your shot. Silhouettes are good options here — trees or buildings, for example, and landmarks such as lighthouses or monuments can provide a good sense of location.

It’s also worth experimenting with phases and the eclipses of the moon, in particular the biggest supermoon of the year, the Hunter’s Moon, which occurs in October. As the moon’s appearance changes throughout its phases, there’s a good opportunity to diversify and experiment with different creative options. A full moon is bright and detailed but can lack surface contrast, so capturing waxing or waning crescents is a good opportunity to practice different styles.

The best time to photograph the moon is during its rise or set, often called the golden hour or blue hour. During these times, the moon appears larger and has a warmer or cooler glow, making for striking images. Tools like The Photographer’s Ephemeris or Stellarium can be used to plan your shoot based on moonrise, moonset and phase information, including where you are in the world.

Pay careful attention to the weather conditions as occasionally, a bright clear sky isn’t ideal, and it can pay to have a few clouds around to add impact and drama.

Which camera settings to use

Once you’ve got your kit set up and you know the style of image you want to capture, it’s worth playing around with camera settings to find the configuration you’re most comfortable with. Because it reflects sunlight, the moon can be quite bright when the focus is on it entirely, so a common mistake is to overexpose the moon, resulting in a loss of detail.

To start with, try a shutter speed of around 1/125 to 1/250 seconds. Shorter exposures help capture sharp details and prevent motion blur from the moon’s movement.

If focusing directly on the moon, an aperture of f/8 to f/11 is ideal for sharpness and sufficient depth of field, depending on the lens, but bear in mind that you’ll need a faster lens if you want to capture the darker areas in your immediate environment. Keep the ISO low, around 100-400, to minimize noise and preserve detail, and switch to manual focus and adjust until the moon appears sharp through the viewfinder or on the LCD screen.

When it comes to white balance, use the daylight setting or manually adjust it to ensure natural colors, and experiment with warmer or cooler white balance settings – you can always look at this in more detail in the edit, too. Switch to spot metering to ensure the camera calculates exposure based on the moon’s brightness rather than the dark sky, and ensure you’re shooting in RAW format for maximum flexibility in post-processing.

Finally, consider using exposure bracketing to take multiple shots at different exposures. This technique is helpful for high dynamic range (HDR) compositions, where you blend images to capture details in both the moon and the surrounding landscape — this can be quite effective when photographing large celestial objects in detail.

If you’re just getting started with astrophotography, you’ll be pleased to know that it doesn’t take too much to take a great picture of the moon, and with minimal and relatively affordable equipment you can start capturing the moon in a lot of detail, especially when paired with the right telephoto lens.

With thoughtful composition and a solid understanding of your camera settings, you can capture stunning images that showcase the moon’s beauty, and even if you’re just experimenting with a smartphone, you may be surprised at the results with a bit of research.