How to photograph the Moon this winter, from the November supermoon onwards

The easiest Moon picture to get right is the one taken as it rises at dusk, when the sky still holds some light and the Moon sits low behind something on the horizon. Use the longest optical zoom you have, steady the camera, set the exposure for the bright lunar surface, and take several frames. There are two good chances coming up: BBC Sky at Night Magazine lists the full Moons of 24 November and 24 December 2026 as supermoons.

What a supermoon changes, and what it does not

A supermoon is a full Moon that happens when the Moon is at or near its closest point to Earth. The headlines suggest something dramatic, but Sky at Night is candid: compared with the full Moon a month before or after, the size difference is imperceptible to the naked eye. What the label really does is get people outside and looking up, which is no bad thing.

For photographers, the Christmas Eve full Moon has a particular appeal. Sky at Night notes it will rise in the north-east just before sunset and set in the north-west around dawn, climbing higher in the sky than the year's earlier supermoons. A Moon rising while the sky is still blue is far easier to photograph than one hanging in total darkness.

Why the Moon so often comes out as a white blob

The Moon is a sunlit rock. It is far brighter than the night sky around it, so when a camera averages the whole scene it sees mostly darkness, brightens everything, and burns the Moon to pure white. The fix is to expose for the Moon itself. On a phone, tap on the Moon and drag the exposure slider down until craters and the darker seas appear. On a camera, use spot metering on the Moon, or switch to manual and reduce the exposure until the highlights hold.

That is also why dusk helps. The difference in brightness between the Moon and the sky is smaller, so you can keep detail in both.

Lens length matters more than anything

Sky at Night's guide to photographing the Moon suggests a focal length of 300mm or more if you want to see the dark seas and the more prominent craters. A standard 18–55mm kit lens makes the Moon small, which is fine for a wide scene with a landscape but disappointing if you want the Moon to fill the frame.

For phone users the advice is to use the longest optical zoom and avoid digital zoom, which only enlarges the pixels. You can crop the picture later with the same result and more control.

Settings to begin with

The Moon is lit by the same sun as a summer afternoon, so it needs far less exposure than people expect. Sky at Night recommends a low ISO, 100 or 200 if you can, and taking several frames at different exposures to find the one that shows detail without overexposure. Its example shot used f/11, ISO 320 and 1/100 second on a long telephoto lens. Treat that as a ballpark, not a rule; haze and the height of the Moon change things.

• Use a tripod, or rest the camera on a wall with a folded jumper underneath.
• Use the two-second timer or a remote release so vibrations settle.
• Focus manually on the edge of the Moon using magnified live view.
• Shoot in raw if your camera allows, so you can recover a little highlight detail.

If the trade-offs between those numbers are still hazy, our explainer on aperture, shutter speed and ISO will help.

Composing with the landscape

A Moon alone in a black frame is a record shot. A Moon behind a church tower, a ridge line, a pier or a winter tree tells a story. The further away you stand from that foreground, the larger the Moon looks relative to it, because a long lens compresses distance. Planning these shots needs two pieces of information: the direction of moonrise and the time.

Astronomy apps and websites give both. Walk to your spot in daylight, check where the north-east horizon is, and work out where the Moon will appear relative to your subject. In midwinter this all happens early. The Royal Observatory Greenwich gives the length of London's shortest day on 21 December 2026 as 7 hours 49 minutes and 42 seconds, so moonrise near Christmas falls in late afternoon, when the light is soft and blue. Our guide to the golden hour in Britain covers that pre-sunset light in more detail.

Not just the full Moon

A full Moon is lit straight on, which flattens its surface. Sky at Night points out that the line between the lit and dark parts, called the terminator, shows craters and mountains in strong relief because the shadows are long there. A first quarter Moon in the early evening, or a thin crescent after sunset, can make a more interesting picture than the full Moon everyone else is shooting.

A slim crescent also shows earthshine, the faint glow on the unlit part of the Moon caused by light reflected from Earth. Capturing it needs a longer exposure, which will overexpose the bright crescent; that contrast is part of its charm.

When the weather does not cooperate

British winter skies are often cloudy on the night that matters. Thin, broken cloud drifting across the Moon can still make an atmospheric picture, especially if you include the halo of light it creates. If the full Moon itself is hidden, the nights either side look almost identical and rise at a slightly different time. Keep an eye on the forecast for two or three evenings and take whichever clear spell comes first.