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Whenever there’s a full moon, many amateur photographers take to their iPhones, attempting to capture the moment. Unfortunately, many of these photos fail to do the moon justice, appearing grainy, out of focus, or overexposed.
If you want to get great photographs of celestial wonders like supermoons or blood moons using an iPhone, you’ll need to adjust your camera for the best results.
Are you ready to learn how to take a pic of the moon on iPhone devices? Follow the tips below, and consider downloading the YouCam Perfect app to take a picture of the moon that’s worthy of any social media feed.
How To Take a Good Moon Picture using Your iPhone?
If you’ve ever snapped a moon photo only to be disappointed by the results, you might wonder what went wrong.
The challenge is that you’re trying to photograph a bright object against the backdrop of a night sky. When your iPhone’s camera reads the scene, it may overcompensate for the dark background by boosting the brightness, thus overexposing the moon.
The good news is that you don’t need to be a professional photographer or own expensive photography equipment to learn how to take a pic of the moon on iPhone devices.
You just need a few tweaks to your iPhone’s default camera settings. Try some of the tips below for an instant upgrade to your moon photos.
Use Night Mode
Supported iPhone models include a Night mode feature for nighttime photography, allowing you to take pictures in low-light settings. With Night mode, you can capture greater detail and more vibrant colors than you would on the default settings.
Your iPhone camera will automatically detect low-light environments and turn on Night mode as needed. A circular icon at the top of your display will turn yellow when Night mode is activated.
💡Note that iPhone Photography School advises using the 1x wide lens or the 2x telephoto lens for the best results.
You’ll also see a number next to the icon indicating how long the shot will take — anywhere from a moment or two to several seconds, depending on how dark it is outside.
Once you start shooting, the camera will record several shots and combine them into one high-quality image. You can also adjust the exposure time by moving the slider at the bottom.
For time-lapse photos of the moon as it grows brighter in the night sky, combine Night mode with Time-lapse. In your camera app, swipe left until you see Time-lapse, and tap the Shutter button to start recording.
Set the Exposure Manually
To avoid overexposure problems, iPhone Photography School recommends switching to manual exposure on your iPhone camera. This approach works best if your iPhone has a Telephoto lens, enabling it to zoom in on the moon so it appears as large as possible.
To use the Telephoto feature, tap the 2x in the camera app, then tap and hold the screen to focus on the moon.
The AE/AF Lock will appear yellow when you’ve locked the focus on the moon, and you’ll see a sundial slider on the screen.
Simply drag down the slider to reduce the exposure, snap away, and tap anywhere on the screen to reset the focus and exposure settings.
Enhance Your Moon Pictures using AI
If your moon picture still looks grainy or has distractions, like birds flying past, AI tools can help.
With the AI Removal and AI Enhance tools in YouCam Perfect, you can easily remove distractions and improve the picture quality with just a few taps.
Use Filters to Add a Different Vibe
If you feel like adding some finishing touches to your moon pictures, try throwing different photo filters on them.
YouCam Perfect offers a wide collection of filters that can transform your photo into something more aesthetic. Feel free to try them out!
👉 Read More: 17 Best Instagram Filters & Effects for Your Photos
Additional Tips for Taking Clear Moon Pictures
Aside from adjusting your iPhone settings, you can set yourself up for success in moon photography by following a few best practices.
Shoot at Dawn or Twilight
The so-called blue hour, just before sunrise or after sunset, is a magical time of day for taking photos of the moon. The backdrop of blues, pinks, and purples provides a dramatic effect against the moon’s bright hues.
The time right after sunrise and before sunset, or golden hour, can also be an ideal time for moon pictures. Warm light and less contrast between the moon and the sky enable your iPhone to pick up landscape features and avoid overexposure.
Use a Tripod for Stability
The moon and the earth are in constant motion. Keeping a steady hand amid these invisible shifts is much easier with a tripod to hold your iPhone in place.
A tripod or level surface can be especially helpful when shooting time-lapse photos or using Night mode to record images over a longer period.
Use the Timer
Your iPhone has a photo timer, so don’t be shy about using it!
Setting a 10-second timer lets you position your phone and helps you avoid moving it while it’s capturing images.
Try a Telescope
If you have a telescope handy, you can position your iPhone over the telescope's eyepiece.
Bringing the moon into clear view may help you catch a rare glimpse of the moon’s ridged surface.
Don't Use the Flash
It might sound counterintuitive, but you’ll want to turn off the flash feature on your iPhone.
The flash is more likely to illuminate areas of your photo you don’t want to highlight rather than enhance your image of the moon.
Play With Composition
Including foreground elements like mountains or sand can enhance your moon pictures, adding depth, visual interest, and a sense of scale.
You can also try different angles, including portrait and landscape mode, to get a range of perspectives in your moon photography.
Record and Take A Screenshot of the Moon
Another popular way of capturing a clear moon is via recording a video and then take a quick screenshot at the moon. Try all the methods and see which one works best for you!
What Happens When You Didn't Get a Moon At All
When you didn't get a good moon picture, say clouds are covering the moon, you can still use a little help from AI to help you add moon to your picture.
Find the feature "AI Replace" in the homepage of YouCam Perfect, then upload your night sky picture.
Paint a little circle on the night sky where you want your moon to be, and type the word "moon" or "full moon" into the prompt. AI will generate a moon for you to complete your picture.
👉 Or Read More and Learn: How to Change Faces and Objects in Photos
Download the YouCam Perfect App for Stunning Moon Photos
Even the most up-to-date iPhone can fall short of expectations when photographing the moon. With the YouCam Perfect App, you can enhance your moon photos using artificial intelligence (AI) features and beautify imperfect images.
The all-in-one photo editing app includes a variety of features to elevate your moon pics in seconds, including:
- AI object removal, perfect for zeroing in on the moon
- Enhancement features to fix blurry or grainy moon photos
- Apply beautiful filters to make your photos better
To learn more and get started, download the YouCam Perfect App for iPhone or Android devices and begin snapping moon pictures today!
