Why is the moon so small?
Lets talk through a scenario, you’re out walking one night, you look up at the sky and notice the moon is particularly beautiful. So you take out your phone, point it to the sky and take a snap. Unfortunately the moon looks like a little white dot in the photo and you wonder, “what’s going on?!”, well it’s actually down to focal length.
Focal length is measured in mm and can be quite confusing, especially when some people think it means the length of the actual lens. Essentially focal length is the amount of surrounding area that you’ll be able to capture with your lens. You can find out more about focal length in more detail with a proper description here. When you view the moon through your eyes you’re seeing it at around 50mm and when you see a picture taken with a camera phone or a wide angle lens, which is usually way less than 50mm, it seems a lot smaller. The smaller the mm on the lens, the wider the angle of view and the further subjects in the background will seem.
What do I need to take a good picture of the moon?
For taking pictures of the moon you’ll need the following equipment:
Zoom Lens
Usually when we try and take pictures of the moon it’s with a camera phone and focal length on camera phones can be quite wide, ranging from 26 – 35mm. The best way to approach a photographing the moon with a camera phone is to buy a zoom lens attachment like this one. If you actually have a digital camera with zoom lenses, that’s better again. With a zoom lens the distance from the subject in front, to the subject in back will seem greatly reduced, also the size of the subject in back will be increased.
Tripod and Shutter Cable
It’s dark out there so when shooting you need to make sure the camera is super still. If you knock it, you will end up with a really blurry image. The tripod will help keep the camera still and the shutter cable, a cable that enables you to click the shutter button from a distance, will stop the camera from any accidental bumps while hitting the shutter button.
When you have everything set up the best thing you can do it put your camera on auto mode. This will take out any of the stress of getting the shot and will just help you enjoy yourself
