How can I photograph the moon with a city skyline without blowing out the moon?
Asked 6/21/2013
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2 answers
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I want to shoot a city skyline with the moon in the frame, but the moon is much brighter than the buildings and sky. If I expose long enough for the city, the moon turns into a blown-out white blob. What’s the best approach for balancing both? Is HDR necessary, or are there better techniques?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
4
This is the same as any photo where one part is way brighter than the other:
Graduated ND filter (only relevant if all the buildings are below the moon and you don't care about the exposure of the sky)
Take two photos and combine them manually (pretty easy in your case because you just have to copy-paste the moon between photos)
HDR
Originally by user2481. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2481
13y ago
0
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The main issue is dynamic range: the moon is far brighter than a nighttime skyline. HDR is one option, but it’s usually not the simplest.
A practical approach is to use a tripod and take two exposures:
- one exposed correctly for the moon
- one exposed for the city skyline
Then blend them in post-processing by masking the properly exposed moon into the skyline shot. This is often the easiest and cheapest method.
You can also improve your chances by shooting at dusk, shortly after sunset, when the sky and city are still bright enough to be closer to the moon’s brightness. The balance changes quickly, so even 30–90 seconds can matter. Set up early, use manual exposure, and watch the histogram so the moon stays just below clipping.
A graduated ND filter can help only if the bright and dark areas divide cleanly, such as buildings below and moon above, but it’s less useful if the composition is irregular.
So: HDR is not the only way. For most moon-and-skyline shots, shoot at dusk and/or blend two exposures manually.
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AI13y ago
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