Photograph the Moon
with a phone

Control light before adding zoom

1. 1
   Clean the lens

   A fingerprint creates a large halo around a bright subject.

2. 2
   Tap and hold on the Moon

   Lock focus and exposure on the lunar disk rather than the dark sky.

3. 3
   Drag exposure down

   Lower brightness until surface shading begins to return.

4. 4
   Prefer optical telephoto

   Use a real telephoto camera when available; crop later instead of pushing digital zoom.

5. 5
   Stabilize and use a timer

   Brace the phone or use a tripod, then trigger a 2-second timer.

Include the landscape near moonrise

Before the sky becomes fully dark, the brightness gap between the Moon and the landscape is smaller. Arrive 15–20 minutes before moonrise at a location with an open eastern horizon.

For a manual camera, ISO 50–200, 1/125–1/250 second, and roughly f/8 can be a starting point—not a universal recipe. Adjust after checking the histogram and surface detail.