Full Moon. How-to

Another full moon event is right around the corner and you don't want to miss it.

A Snow Moon, of the second full moon of winter, will appear from Friday evening to Monday morning.

Before you head outside with your camera to capture that Instagram worthy image, here are some tips and tricks from an avid space photographer.

The equipment

OK, let's get down to business. First, you need the right equipment.

I use what is known as "micro four-thirds" cameras, as they are smaller, lighter and cheaper than the standard interchangeable cameras,

The reason I enjoy the smaller, lighter camera is because it's easier to move around, especially with all your gear. I also suggest having a number of different lenses, from extreme wide-angle to 400mm. The latter is in relative resolution, equals to 700mm telephoto lens on a regular camera.

Location, location, location

I suggest downloading a moon locator app on your phone.

Many of them can superimpose this information on a real-time camera image on our phones, We point the (cellphone) camera toward the horizon and the app will show us where the moon (or sun) will rise, its trajectory through the sky, where it will set and the times of these events.

This will help you to find the perfect location to set up your tripod.

The camera settings

Now on to those pesky camera settings, that "auto" setting is not your friend when taking images of the moon because the moon reflects a bunch of light from the sun.

If a camera is set to "AUTO" setting, it will "see" all of the darkness (black) of space and try to make it exposed to halfway between black and white -- therefore, increasing the exposure (by a lot!),

When using a lens with a focal length (or equivalent) of 600mm or longer:
ISO: 800
Aperture: 6.7 (or close)
Shutter speed: (somewhere between) 1/1250 -1/2500 second

But wait, there's more!
Shutter speeds hand-held shots are doable but I highly recommends a tripod. I even suggest a remote shutter release to ensure the elimination of almost all camera shake.

Editing

Now that you have your images, I suggest editing them to black and white. Here's why:

As the lunar soil (regolith) is a light, greyish-brown colour, it is not very photogenic, and it doesn't show much contrast between brightly lit areas and shadows. This then helps to tweak the contrast and brightness if needed.