How to photograph the blue supermoon

Jonathan Green knows a thing or two about photographing the moon.

The astrophotographer has been capturing cosmic events for nearly 15 years and previously ran the New Zealand Astrophotography competition. These days, he spends his time at Kumeu Observatory conducting astronomical research.

On Tuesday, alongside many keen stargazers and photographers, Green will be observing the “blue” sturgeon moon set to light up New Zealand skies, conditions permitting, around dusk at 6pm.

He stresses the moon will not in fact be blue – the term “blue moon” refers to multiple full moons in a given period – but says it will be an almost “spiritual-like event” to witness.

If you are wanting a more permanent keepsake, or to show off in your social media feed, here is some advice from the pros.

How to photograph the blue moon with a cellphone

If a cellphone is all you have, it’s going to be tricky to capture a good picture for your feed.

Green suggests using eyepiece projection, which captures images through the eyepiece of a telescope.

“It’s a simple case of getting the moon in focus through the eyepiece with your phone’s camera… the moon will look tiny in your image if all you’re using is the phone without any type of optical aid.”

Green says you can opt for a telephoto lens if you want the moon to look large relative to the foreground – but finding the best imagery depends on the timing of your shot.

“The best shots are those that have a foreground to show the scale of the moon… shooting when the moon is rising or setting, so you have a foreground, is what sets amazing images apart from average ones… and the moon will be less bright, meaning you can use slightly longer exposure.”

Tuesday’s blue moon will appear bigger and brighter when at the horizon – this is called the moon illusion. Green says a “rookie mistake” is over-exposure: “The moon is already so bright … short exposures are better.”

The brightness of the moon applies to another basic rule – “definitely don’t use flash”, no matter how tempting, and use manual settings on your camera if you can.

How to photograph the blue moon if you have camera gear

Green says a sturdy tripod is the first essential if you’re using a DSLR or mirrorless camera.

Fellow astrophotographer, Auckland-based Mayank Mrug has been playing around with photography for nearly 20 years. He works with a decade-old DSLR to capture his lunar images.

He says all his lunar photos are shot at 300mm focal length.

“There’s a rule called Looney 11, which means when shooting a full moon, you should have an aperture of 1/11.”

Mrug suggests more advanced photographers use a stacking method for capturing quality images.

“How that works is you can take either a stable video or hundreds of photos of the moon, over a span of an hour or two, and then use those images in a stacking software to get all of the detail.”

And for Green – practice makes perfect.

“How good your shot will be on automatic settings will really vary between different camera brands and makes.

“I would use manual settings, but that comes with experience, so a good idea is for people to get out and practice on any full moon night so they can hone their skills.”

Regardless of whether you capture that special shot or not, Green says the blue moon will be a sight to behold.

“I’d just say to get out there if the weather is clear.

“It doesn’t really matter if you get a good shot or not, just watching the full moon at perigee rise over the horizon is almost a spiritual-like event that reminds us of our cosmic connection to the universe.”