Taking Photos of the Moon with your Phone

Casual Observation Series:  Taking Photos of the Moon with your phone

So where to start your astrophotography journey in the night sky?  How about just starting using your mobile phone to take some shots of the moon?   My fellow astrophotographer and friend Aaron Chick captured the above photo of the moon using a Samsung phone.  You can follow him on Instagram here: 

https://tinyurl.com/4mjn5tcw

Trying your hand at new hobbies can be challenging.   When introducing our daughter to swimming, we certainly didn't start at the deep end!  Our town's public pool is perfectly designed for beginners.  It features a pool-wide slope from level ground that slowly gets deeper over half the length of the pool.   Ideal for babies, tots, and newbies to enjoy the water with little risk. 

If you had some disappointing lunar photos in the past - its okay!  Let's see if we can improve on those skills.   Every mobile phone is different.   Camera quality.  Camera settings.   The age of the phone.  The following are some general tips that should work with the most recent phones models. 

The Moon is Bright

Physical objects reflect light.    When measuring the reflectivity, we use the term "albedo".   Albedo comes from Latin meaning "whiteness".   The planet Venus has the highest visual albedo at 0.65 - meaning that 65% of the sunlight hitting Venusian clouds are reflected back into space.   Ironically, the closest planet to the Sun has the lowest visual albedo at 0.11 - 11% of the light reflected off of the surface of Mercury.

Our Moon at "full phase"  has an albedo of 12%.  8% at first and third quarter.    When pointing any camera at a bright object, we will have to do some adjusting on the camera settings.   Failing to do so will produce a plain white sphere in your camera (see my example below from May 2022)

In my experience, most mobile phone cameras are designed for the novice photographer.  Easy settings to get the best pictures overall.    They are not designed for astrophotography or taking pictures of the night sky in mind.   

If you want to get descent pictures of the moon, I recommend starting with your phone's app store.   For my Samsung and Google phones, I downloaded ProCam X - Lite: HD Camera Pro.   This app allows you to control the exposure, white balance, ISO, focus, and shutter speed to start.

Here are some recommended settings I picked up in my research that can help you get the best lunar picture out of your phone.  

1. NO FLASH

First, turn off your flash.    The moon is too far away.

2.  STEADY YOUR PHONE

Consider steadying your phone on a car, fence, or any other immovable object when snapping a photo.   We are just unable to hold a phone steady enough to get a descent picture in the night sky.  Affordable tripods and phone camera mounts are available at your local camera store or available online.

3.  REMOTE RELEASE OF THE SHUTTER

Pressing the large white shutter button on your mobile phone camera app can create enough vibrations in low light settings to blur your night pictures.    Active a timer on the app to take your pictures.   At least 3 seconds or more should work.

4.  FOCUS

Manually focusing generally give better results for your lunar pictures.   Set the autofocus (AF) to off on your camera (and lens if one is used).      Zoom in on the moon on your screen.  Set the manual focus by tapping on the moon itself.  

5.  ISO SET TO 100

ISO for digital cameras is the sensitivity of the camera sensor.     Low ISO settings should be used when there is plenty of light available.   This is the case with our bright moon.    If you are encountering clouds and windy conditions, you may consider a higher ISO setting.

6.  APERTURE SET TO F/8 to F/11 TO START (IF ABLE)

Aperture is the opening in a lens through which light passes to enter the camera.   Think of your eyeballs.   When driving at night and an oncoming car beams their bright lights at you, your eyeball naturally narrows your pupil.   You may even squint to limit the incoming light.     However, in a dark environment, your pupil will open to allow the most light in.   

In photography, aperture is expressed in F-Stops.   This is expressed as a fraction.   The F-Stop of F/1.4 allows the most light in.   The aperture is set to allow the most light in.  F/2 allows half the light in than F/1.4.   In each increasing step of the F-stops, the light allowed in is cut in half.  

For the moon, a smaller aperture (higher F-stop) will be a good spot to start.   

The ProCam X - Lite: HD Camera Pro app version I have will not allow you to adjust the aperture setting.   Ignore this step if it is not an available feature on your phone or camera.

7.  SHUTTER SPEED - 1/125 to 1/250

For distance moving objects, a faster shutter speed is recommended.   Starting with 1/125 to 1/250 should work.   Slower shutter speeds could causing blurring of your pictures.  For brighter phases of the moon, consider making the shutter speed even faster.

8.  WHITE BALANCE

The moon is reflecting mostly sunlight (unless it is close to the new moon at dawn/dusk where the earth shines on the unlit portion of the moon).    Set your camera's automatic white balance to daylight.  

9.  TAKE YOUR PICTURES

With all the setting in place, frame up the moon in your camera.   Use the zoom feature on the phone.  If you can have another subject in the picture - that 's great (like a tree, house, mountain, etc..).   Adding an additional subject makes the pictures interesting.

Be sure to take multiple pictures.   If the picture is not working out, considering adjusting your focus and shutter speed.    Or maybe play with the other settings.    Enjoy the process of learning how to take night photography.    Don't let the challenges stop you!   Keep working at it and you'll get better over time.

LAST STEP- PHOTO EDITING AND SHARING

Once you are satisfied with your pictures, you can use editing tools in your phone to adjust colors, brightness, contrast, and other settings to your liking.    All is left is to share your pictures with your friends and family!    Below is a picture I took of the moon on my Google Pixel 6A phone using the ProCam X - Lite: HD Camera Pro.   

Google Pixel 6A
Waxing Gibbous Moon Phase at 76% Illumination

Hungry for more of the moon?   Be sure to visit NASA's website on the Moon at the link below.

Moon: Nasa Science on Earth's Moon

Have some helpful apps or tips on taking pictures at night?  Share below! 

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