On the way to Stadium Waterfront for an early morning shoot with my friend, Kit, I spotted the full moon low in the sky. I looked for a suitable foreground interest and took a few shots with various buildings in the foreground.
It’s always better to shoot the moon during dusk or dawn as the contrast levels will not be as high as night time. For one, the sky will not be pitch black, and you won’t end up with a shot with a big white blob if you exposed for the foreground; or if you exposed for the moon, you end up with almost no foreground.
The actual scene for the shot above is actually brighter, but getting a exposure that does not overexpose the moon results in a slightly darker image. If I had tried to do this when the sky was black, the building wouldn’t have been visible.
In the shot above, the sky was starting to brighten up as the sun rises, giving me enough exposure for the building while keeping details on the moon. A telephoto lens (in this case a Fujinon XC 55-230mm) was used to compress the perspective as well as to bring the moon closer.
When we arrived at Stadium Waterfront, I managed to catch the moon just before it disappears. Due to the use of a telephoto lens and the so-called “moon illusion”, the moon appears larger when it’s low in the sky. The moon is not only big when it’s a Supermoon. The photo above is also cropped slightly, which magnifies the moon a bit more.
In the previous evening, I also managed to catch the rising moon next to the steeple of the St. Andrew’s Cathedral. It was somewhat hidden behind clouds but still visible. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the telephoto zoom with me so I had to make do with the XF 18-55mm kit lens I have on my Fujifilm X-T1 plus some cropping to get the shot. Again, shooting at twilight allowed me to capture both the moon and the steeple properly.
