How to photograph a supermoon

Supermoons offer a rare opportunity to get up close to our nearest neighbor. Thankfully, getting a good picture of the moon is one of the easiest techniques to master when starting astrophotography — and supermoons provide photographs with the ability to capture some unique and interesting shots. In this guide, we'll be looking at how to photograph a supermoon and what you might want to consider.

Simply put, supermoons occur when the moon is at its nearest point to the Earth simultaneously, as it is a full moon in the lunar cycle. The closest point of the moon's imperfect orbit of our planet is called a perigee, and during a supermoon event, it can appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than when it is at its furthest point, otherwise known as its apogee. The next supermoon is the Harvest Moon on Sept.17 at 10:34 p.m. ET (0234 GMT on Sept 18). After that it is the Hunter's Moon on Oct. 17, then the Beaver Moon on Nov. 15.

If you aren't interested in photographing a supermoon, perhaps you'd prefer to look at it through one of the best telescopes or binoculars instead.

Photo styles and techniques

We've all seen those photos before — images that spectacularly capture the extent of the scale of a supermoon, how different it is from a regular everyday moon and especially the beautiful orange glow that often emanates from it. Good planning is vital, as well as keeping a close eye on the weather before planning a supermoon photography session.

In our astrophotography for beginners guide, we talk about the different styles of astrophotography you can undertake, and the basic, most effective style for photographing a supermoon is to encompass a significant foreground element (a tower, large building, or a famous landmark, for example.) This gives good context to the shot and effectively displays the moon's scale.

Next, find a spot where you can be at a considerable distance from that foreground element and align it with the moonrise/moonset. Zoom right in, ensuring that the associated lens compression makes the moon (the background element) seem bigger than it really is.

The above can be applied to any moon shot of course, but the bigger the moon, the more spectacular the effect. It sounds easy, but getting it right can take some practice, good fortune and good calculation.

The best camera equipment for a supermoon photo

Choosing the right camera equipment can help take the kinds of awe-inspiring images you want of the supermoon. Still, it's worth remembering that some of the high-end gear is eye-wateringly expensive — especially when looking into high-quality zoom lenses. 

However, if you're clever with your kit picking, you can still achieve some excellent results by pairing good lenses and equipment with cheaper, second-hand camera bodies. Below is a minimum list we'd consider.

• A camera that is well suited to astrophotography
• A telephoto Lens - 200mm (full-frame equivalent) or more (the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM lens is worth considering, or the Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S-Line if money is no object)
• A sturdy tripod
• A remote/cable/app shutter releases
• Optional graduated glass filter
• One of the best stargazing apps (e.g. Photopills)
• One of the best photo editing apps

How to plan your supermoon composition

When is the next supermoon?

When planning your supermoon photography, your best port of call is to go online to find the dates and times of the next supermoons. We have a comprehensive guide here.

The number of supermoons per year varies. Here are the next three supermoons to mark on your photography calendar. 

Full moons will rise around sunset and set at sunrise. As the moon rises/sets on the horizon, we view it through more of the dense atmosphere which absorbs blue light. This is what gives it the orange/reddish glow. 

It's tempting to rush out to capture the rising moon, but shooting a supermoon as it sets is often easier. This is because it can be easier to align your ideal shot as you are watching it slowly move out of view as it sets rather than watching it come into view, giving you a little extra time with the moon and its trajectory to set up your composition close to the horizon.

Like the sun, the moon's position on the horizon as it rises and sets will vary slightly throughout the year. This needs to be considered, as some locations will work better (or depending on where the moon is in the sky. A bridge or arch, for example, may only be an appropriate subject for certain supermoons in certain seasons to ensure everything lines up properly.

The good news is technology can offer a helping hand here, and apps such as Photopills or SkyView have excellent planning tools that allow you to set a future date and time to see what the night sky will look like at any given moment. It will enable you to establish a view of the exact position of the moon at the location you want to shoot. The Photographer's Ephemeris is a great tool too.

Which camera settings should you use for a supermoon photo?

• Low ISO
• Shutter speed no less than 1-2 seconds
• Frequent adjustments to exposure (possibly exposure bracketing)

Once all your planning is complete, and you know where, when and how you will photograph the supermoon, it's time to get out into the field — the exciting bit!

Set your gear on a stable tripod and zoom in on your chosen foreground element. If you're using a lens that's anything upwards of 300-400mm, you can expect to be able to zoom in a long way and get an impressive effect, although even if you have something more modest like a 200mm zoom lens, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised by the results you can get.

Because the photograph will be taken zoomed in, you'll want a large depth of field, and it's worth remembering that because you'll be zoomed in so far, the moon will appear to have more exaggerated 'movement' through the sky. We'd recommend setting the shutter to no less than 1-2 seconds and the ISO as low as possible to reduce noise. Most modern DSLR and mirrorless cameras featured in the best cameras for astrophotography guide should be capable of excellent results when paired with the right lens. We have listed our favorites in our best lenses for astrophotography guide.

You may find it difficult to balance the exposure between the bright moon and the foreground element of the shot — as we mention in our guide on how to photograph the moon, frequent adjustments will likely need to be made to keep the foreground from becoming underexposed while preventing the moon from becoming overexposed. Exposure bracketing is an option here, and it's something to play around with in the editing process using one of the best editing apps for astrophotography, but you can also use a soft graduated glass filter for the sky to help tone down the moon's brightness a touch.

Because the moon is such a bright object in the sky during a supermoon and lighting the ground in front of you, it's easy for the camera to lock on to a subject so most of the time, using the camera's autofocus will be sufficient, but if you want to look into focusing in more depth (excuse the pun) to get maximum sharpness throughout the frame, then you may want to calculate the hyperfocal distance to ensure your foreground is behind it so the moon will still appear sharp in your photograph.

We would recommend shooting a supermoon from the moment it becomes visible on the horizon to when it has significantly lost its dramatic color — usually around 20 minutes to half an hour. When reviewing the shots, play close attention to the focus and ensure you have an adequate balance of shadows and highlights. 

It's also really important to ensure that the moon has sharp, super crisp edges, so if you need to, you can push the ISO a little higher to ensure you have a higher shutter setting and a sharper picture overall. Many of the best editing apps like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom have excellent noise reduction tools powered by AI, so you can relax a little on that front.

Like any image-making of the night sky, practice makes perfect, and it's worth trying different settings, locations and subjects until you get the type of image you're happy with.

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing supermoon photo and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

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