The light of a full moon is astonishingly bright on clear nights, and with a little exposure wizardry, it can illuminate the landscape like daylight. James Abbott shows you how to achieve this stunningly surreal technique
Shot under a full moon, this image is made up of a shorter exposure for the sky and a longer stopped-down exposure for the foreground Sony A7R III, 20mm f/1.8, 6sec at f/1.8, ISO 640 (sky); 5min at f/11, ISO 400 (foreground)
Afterthe sun has set and you’ve taken your final image during twilight, packing away and beginning the long trek back to your car is the typical order of events for landscape photographers. But once darkness has set in, depending on the moon phase and how clear the sky is, a whole new view of the world can reveal itself; one where nighttime scenes can be captured in such a way that they look as if they were taken in daylight. The main giveaway that something else is afoot is the stars nestled in the bright blue sky.
For this effect to work, you ideally need to shoot on or within a few days of a full moon. However, you can shoot during first quarter or third quarter moon phases (a halfilluminated moon as seen from Earth). The only downside here is that you have to roughly double the ISO compared to a full moon, but modern cameras, even entry-level models, are excellent performers up to ISO 1600 which is the highest setting you’ll ever need if you’re using the right type of lens. It’s a unique approach to night landscape photography, so let’s take a look at how it’s done…
Capturing images of this type is tricky, it can’t be denied. Not only do you have to shoot using stand
