Photography Mistakes that Keep You From Capturing the Moon

Astronomy buffs and photographers alike love to capture that elusive lunar body on camera, but photography mistakes hold them up. For all their efforts, they wind up with hovering discs that more closely resemble UFOs than heavenly bodies. Why? And how on earth can you correct this problem?

You'd think the moon would make an easy subject -- after all, it hangs there all night, so you have a good window of opportunity. But as many photographers could tell you, that's not the case. Fortunately, understanding these common photography mistakes can help you avoid them.

Mistake #1: Not knowing what you're shooting.

Do you want a picture of the moon -- a close up shot of all her glory? Or do you want a night time cityscape with the moon involved? These are very different shots, and it's important to know what you're going for before you start shooting. If you just want the moon, zoom in close and use a daytime exposure -- remember, the moon reflects almost as much light as the sun. If not, things are a bit more complicated.

Mistake #2: Trying to take two pictures at once.

Most photography mistakes arise from the fact that our eyes can see things the camera can't. Your naked eye is perfectly capable of seeing the bright city lights and the moon overhead and distinguishing between their brightness. The camera, on the other hand, isn't. If your exposure perfectly captures the cityscape, you'll overexpose the moon. If you capture the moon, you'll barely see the city.

It sounds crazy, but the only solution is to treat these as two different photos. Take them separately and put them together later using Photoshop or its like. If you want the perfect moon-over-cityscape shot, that's the only way to do it.

Mistake #3: Not inserting the moon correctly.

This is one of those special Photoshop photography mistakes, and it comes into play when you try to follow the above advice and splice two photos together. You can't just chop the moon out of one photo and put it into another.

You have to consider where the moon should be, astronomically speaking -- full moons and crescent moons, for example, are in very different places in the sky -- and what size it should be. One of the most common photography mistakes? Making the moon too big. You don't want a repeat of that scene in Bruce Almighty where he pulls the moon closer to the earth to impress his girlfriend now, do you?

For more tips on how to (correctly) photograph the moon, visit 7PhotographyQuestions.com. The moon is a tricky subject, but if you can avoid these photography mistakes, you'll be on your way to a series of fantastic shots.