How to photograph the moon and stars: settings that work
The moon and the stars look like one night subject, but they need opposite settings. The moon is a sunlit rock and is surprisingly bright, so it needs a short exposure. Stars are faint points that need the widest aperture, high ISO and many seconds of exposure. This guide covers the moon first, then the stars and the Milky Way, then a phone version. Every number here is a starting point to adjust after the first frames.
Starting settings
| Setting | Start here | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Moon exposure | f/11, shutter 1/ISO (e.g. ISO 100, 1/100 s) | 1 |
| Moon lens | Longest you have, 200 mm or more | 2 |
| Support | Tripod and 2-second timer | 2 |
| Stars: aperture | Widest, f/1.4–f/2.8 | 5 |
| Stars: ISO | 1600–6400 | 5 |
| Stars: shutter | 500 rule or NPF, about 10–25 s | 6 |
| Focus | Manual, magnified live view at infinity | 7 |
| White balance | About 3,800–4,500 K | 5 |
1Expose the moon with the Looney 11 rule
The moon is lit by direct sunlight, so it is about as bright as a sunny landscape. The Looney 11 rule says: at f/11, set the shutter speed to 1 divided by the ISO. At ISO 100 that means 1/100 s; at ISO 400, 1/400 s. Like Sunny 16, it is an approximate rule of thumb.
Automatic exposure fails because the meter sees mostly black sky and brightens the whole frame. The moon then turns into a white disc with no detail.
- Use manual mode (M), f/11 and shutter = 1/ISO as a first shot.
- Check the histogram and the highlight warning; if the moon blinks, use a faster shutter.
- A thin crescent or a moon through haze may need one or two stops more light.
- If you must use auto, set spot metering on the moon and about −2 stops of exposure compensation.
2Use your longest lens and a tripod
The moon is small in the frame: with a 50 mm lens it is a tiny dot. As a rough guide its image on the sensor is about 1/110 of the focal length, so even 300 mm gives a disc under 3 mm wide. Longer is better, and cropping helps.
Long lenses magnify every vibration. A tripod and a timer make a large difference, even with short shutter speeds.
- Use the longest lens or zoom setting you have; 200–600 mm is ideal.
- Mount on a tripod, use the 2-second timer or a remote, and turn off stabilisation on the tripod.
- Focus manually in magnified live view on the edge of the moon or on its craters.
- Shoot many frames: air turbulence makes some sharper than others.
3Choose the phase and the moment
The full moon looks flat because the sun lights it head-on and casts no shadows. Near the terminator, the line between the lit and dark part, craters throw long shadows and look three-dimensional. Crescent, quarter and gibbous phases show this best.
A moon low on the horizon looks large next to buildings and hills, but the extra air makes it softer, dimmer and more orange.
- Check a moon phase calendar and plan for the days around first or last quarter for crater detail.
- Frame the terminator; that is where the most texture is.
- For a big low moon, accept slightly softer detail and give a little more exposure.
- Shoot when the moon is high for the sharpest close-ups.
4Put the moon in a landscape at moonrise
On its own the moon is a grey disc. With a landscape it tells a story. The best time is moonrise around full moon, just before or after sunset, when the sky and land are still bright enough to expose together with the moon.
Later in the night the gap between the bright moon and the dark land becomes too wide for one exposure.
- Use a planning app or a moonrise table to find the time and direction of moonrise from your spot.
- Stand far from the subject with a long lens so the moon looks large next to it.
- Shoot in the 10–20 minutes after moonrise, while there is still light in the sky.
- Later, take two exposures (one for the moon, one for the land) and blend them, or keep the moon slightly bright.
5Prepare for stars: dark sky, wide fast lens, high ISO
Stars are faint, so everything needs to gather light. Light pollution from cities washes them out, and moonlight does too, so a dark place and a moonless night help most.
A wide lens shows more sky and allows longer exposures before the stars streak. A fast aperture lets in more light. ISO 1600–6400 is a typical range on a recent camera.
- Find a dark-sky area using a light pollution map, ideally 30 miles or more from a big city.
- Go around the new moon, or when the moon has set.
- Use a 14–24 mm lens at its widest aperture, about f/1.4–f/2.8.
- Start at ISO 3200 and white balance around 4,000 K, then adjust.
6Keep stars sharp: the 500 and NPF rules
The earth turns, so stars move across the frame. Too long an exposure turns points into short streaks. The 500 rule is a simple approximation: 500 divided by the focal length (full-frame equivalent) gives the longest shutter time in seconds. With a 20 mm lens, that is about 25 s.
On modern high-resolution sensors the 500 rule allows too much. The NPF rule also uses aperture and pixel size and gives a shorter, more accurate time. The NPF calculator is on our Long exposures and the night sky page.
- On a crop sensor, multiply the focal length by the crop factor first (1.5 or 1.6 for APS-C).
- For pin-sharp stars, use the NPF time or about half the 500-rule value.
- Zoom into the first frame and shorten the exposure if stars look like dashes.
- Use a tripod and a timer or remote; turn off stabilisation.
7Focus at infinity
Autofocus cannot see stars, and the infinity mark on many lenses is not exact: lenses focus past infinity so they can cope with temperature changes. Setting focus by eye in live view is the reliable way.
- Switch to manual focus and point at the brightest star or a distant light.
- Magnify live view to the maximum and turn the ring until the star is the smallest, sharpest point.
- Tape the focus ring so it cannot move.
- Check focus again after a while if the temperature drops.
8Photograph the Milky Way
The bright core of the Milky Way is visible from spring to autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, best in summer in the south-eastern to southern sky. It needs a truly dark sky; from a city it disappears.
A foreground such as a tree, a rock or a lit tent makes the image feel real and gives a sense of scale.
- Check when the core rises with a planning app, and go on a moonless night.
- Use the star settings: widest aperture, ISO 3200–6400, NPF time.
- Place a simple foreground low in the frame and keep the horizon level.
- Shoot RAW so you can reduce noise and adjust colour later.
9Photograph the moon and stars with a phone
Phones handle the moon poorly in auto, because they brighten the black sky. They do better with stars, thanks to night modes that stack many frames.
- Moon: zoom with the telephoto lens (not far into digital zoom), tap the moon and drag exposure down until craters appear.
- Stars: put the phone on a tripod or prop it still; night mode will then allow 10–30 s.
- In a pro mode, try ISO 1600–3200, the longest shutter allowed and manual focus at infinity.
- Turn off the flash and use the timer.
Before you go out
- Tripod and remote or 2-second timer
- Longest lens for the moon
- Wide fast lens for the stars
- Moon phase and moonrise times checked
- Dark sky site and weather checked
- Charged spare batteries (cold drains them)
- Warm clothes and a red torch
- Manual focus at infinity, taped