Interview With a Moon Photographer

Fellow moon chaser and photographer John Fox suggested doing a Q&A surrounding moon photography. He carefully crafted the questions, which you’ll find below along with my answers.

I had my dad join me for a moon chase. After the planned shots when the moon was well above the horizon, I wasn’t taking any more pictures and we were chatting. Out of the corner of my eye I happened to notice a plane was about to transit the moon so I jumped back as quickly as I could and hit the shutter button, crossing my fingers that the settings I had from before would work.
Single Exposure 🔹 600mm 🔹 F/11 🔹 1/200 sec. 🔹 ISO 100⁠

What got you into moon photography?
I have a memory from my teenage years when my brother and dad and I were near the airport, looking up at the planes as they landed. The moon was also directly overhead. This was long before cell phone cameras were a thing, but digital cameras were becoming popular, and my parents had acquired one. Dad snapped a photo of the moon, but it didn’t come out at all. What he got was what many see on their phones nowadays when they try to capture it - just a plain white orb, with none of the details that our eyes see. ⁠Fast forward about 15 years - I was getting into photography and thinking back on that memory - I figured I should be able to learn to better capture the moon, so that’s what I did. I really enjoyed the thrill of planning and executing so I kept it up and I’m still at it a decade later. A couple of years ago, I took my dad out for a moon chase, and after it had risen over the mountains, I was able to snap the photo above as a plane crossed in front of it. It was an exciting moment and also pretty cool to connect it to an old memory with dad.

What advice would you give to a photographer who is new to moon chasing?
If you want to improve, it’s the same as any other skill: Learn, practice, repeat. I can guarantee the more you do that, the better you’ll get at it.

After purchasing a used DSLR from a friend a decade ago, this was the first photo I took of the moon. I had much to learn, including keeping the horizon straight. Single Exposure: 55mm 🔹 F/5.6 🔹1/60 sec.🔹 ISO 400

What is your favorite app to use to help you target moon alignments?
PlanIt! While I also use the popular PhotoPills and TPE apps, I’ve found that PlanIt Pro provides the easiest way for me to account for errors or lacking information in the terrain data, and visualize the shot in advance.  Often times rock formations are not included in the terrain data, but with PlanIt Pro I can add in features for precision shots.

What moon phase is your favorite to shoot and why?
I shoot the full moon most often, as it tends to provide the best opportunities to get a nicely exposed photo of both the moon and landscape together.

If you were to list 5 must have items every good moon photographer needs, what would they be?
You just need the bare necessities.  All I ever have is my camera (with the battery and memory card of course!), lens, tripod, remote shutter (optional). For more info on equipment, readers may be interested in the article I wrote on getting started with moon photography.

Though this isn’t the exact gear I use for moon shots, it’s the check I always do when leaving home for any photography to make sure I’m not forgetting anything important. This is similar to the “Phone, Wallet, Keys” check before going out.
✔ Camera, ✔ Card, ✔ Battery, ✔ Tripod

Where do you draw your moon inspiration from?
Since I love capturing the moon along with the landscape as it’s rising or setting, I always have my eye open when I’m out and about, constantly looking for rock formations, trees, or other features that might work well for a moon alignment. I also follow many other moon photographers, artists, and hubs on social media, and often find ideas and inspiration there.

What are a few things that make moon chasing thrilling to you?
I love the idea of standing in exactly the right spot, at exactly the right time, to be able to capture the moon “interacting” with terrestrial objects. Even with all the planning though, you never know for sure how it’s going to work out until the moment arrives, and waiting for it and witnessing it is always a thrill for me.

If you were to narrow it down, and pick your favorite moon shot of all time, what would it be and why?
My “Moon Eye” photo is my favorite shot for many reasons, but probably most of all because not only is it such an incredible natural phenomena, but to my knowledge it had never been previously captured or witnessed.  To be clear, it’s not that uncommon for the moon to be seen and photographed through the arch, but I had not seen it captured in a way to appear so much like an eye before.

Single Exposure 🔹 428mm 🔹 F/9 🔹 1/500 sec. 🔹 ISO 125

Your thoughts on “moon droppers” who do fake moon composites and “drop in” the moon into a scene in photoshop or lightroom?
I think people should feel free to create whatever and however they’d like, and I have no issue with fake images, regardless of how they were made.  That said, it’s dishonest if a photographer doesn’t mention that an image they are sharing is a composite.  I’ve written articles to debunk images from photographers that intentionally mislead people to believe what they are seeing is a single shot. For example, one photographer created a Photoshop composite very similar to my “Moon Eye” photo, but it is never mentioned in their caption that the moon from a different place and different day was pasted into the landscape. I share more of my thoughts on dishonesty in landscape photography in this article about sky swapping.

How often do you come across other moon photographers when you are out getting your shots?
Only one time.  The plan was to have my friend stand on top of some rock formation as the moon rose. Not long after I arrived to the position, a random spot in the middle of the desert, a large group of photographers showed up. It was a workshop hosted by the nearby botanical garden. It did seem quite coincidental that they happened to come to the exact place, since they could have been anywhere over a fairly large area and still achieved the photos they were going for. Fortunately, I was already in the exact spot I needed to be in for the precision moon shot with my friend.

A photography workshop happening at the same place in the middle of the desert I had planned to capture my friend in front of the moon (below). Fortunately, I had already staked out the position I needed to be in before they arrived.

Despite a good amount of clouds (see photo above with photographers), the moon peeked out enough at the right time to be able to snag a photo with my friend. Single Exposure 🔹 300mm 🔹 F/5.6 🔹 1/100 sec. 🔹 ISO 200⁠

Thanks to John for the questions, and if anybody has any others, feel free to ask me in the comments!