How to Get in Focus Both the Moon and the Subject (with a Telephoto Lens)

👉 To start planning your photos: www.photopills.com/
When photographing the Moon with an interesting subject, and focusing on your subject, you might get the Moon out of focus… Why?
In this video I’ll show you the technique we always use to get both the Moon and the subject in focus.
TIME INDEX
00:00 Introduction
00:48 The plan
02:46 Moon and subject in focus
07:33 Final words
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PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE MENTIONED:
- Moon Photography guide:
www.photopills.com/articles/m...
- 15+ Photography guides collection:
www.photopills.com/articles
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INSPIRATION
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PHOTOGRAPHY FUNDAMENTALS
- Understanding Natural Light: Golden Hour, Blue Hour and Twilights
• Understanding Natural ...
- Understanding Depth of Field (DoF) and How to Calculate it
• Understanding Depth of...
- Understanding the Hyperfocal Distance (and How to Calculate it)
• Understanding the Hype...
- Learn How To Focus at the Hyperfocal Distance in 1 Minute!
• Learn How To Focus at ...
MILKY WAY PHOTOGRAPHY
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• Milky Way Photography ...
- Milky Way Photography Masterclass with Alyn Wallace
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• Milky Way Photography ... ​
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MOON PHOTOGRAPHY
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- Moon Photography Masterclass with Jennifer Khordi
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SUNSET & SUNRISE PHOTOGRAPHY
- How to Plan a Powerful Sunset Photo | When You Know the Date
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- Photographing the Sun setting through the natural arch of Es Pont d’En Gil
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LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
- Landscape Photography with Nigel Danson
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LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH LENS FILTERS
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SEASCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
- Seascape Photography Masterclass with Francesco Gola
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METEOR SHOWER PHOTOGRAPHY
- How to Plan Any Meteor Shower Photo You Imagine
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SOLAR ECLIPSE PHOTOGRAPHY
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LUNAR ECLIPSE PHOTOGRAPHY
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STAR TRAILS PHOTOGRAPHY
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LEARN PHOTOPILLS
- Photography Planning Masterclass with PhotoPills app
• Photography Planning C...
- How to Enable and Use the PhotoPills Widgets
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- How to move the Red Pin of the Planner
• How to move the Red Pi...
- How to Save, Share and Import Plans and Locations with PhotoPills
• How to Save, Share and...
- Mastering the Load button of the Planner
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- Calibrating the Augmented Reality Views (AR)
• Calibrating the Augmen...
- Understanding the Map Buttons of the Planner
• Understanding the Map ...

[@honorab6220]

I've never taken advantage of that feature but that's about to change. The video did a great job of showing how easy and helpful it is.

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much! :)

[@ericvanhorn7986]

Thanks for chiming in for a refresher. Always welcome!

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Eric!

[@zonibjd]

Great tutorial, Rafael. I get this question a lot too. And even us experienced photographers make the mistake of not planning and leaving our aperture too big. Sometimes you can't tell either the moon or your subject are out of focus in the viewfinder. And sometimes it is difficult to estimate the distance of the subject. Always good to check Photopills before shooting.

[@PhotoPills]

Yep! It's better to plan till the very last detail. It takes just a few minutes once you know how to do it :)

[@CluelessYoutuber]

Just bought my first telephoto lens and super excited to do moonshots and compositions! Love Photopills

[@PhotoPills]

Nice!

[@Pasadenahitop]

Ohhhhhh so clear and clever! Brilliant. Again! Thank you.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Cat!

[@matthewgrichmond]

You explain things so well! Great product and great video!!

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much Matthew!

[@ARKenMan]

Thank you. It finally makes sense to me now. I'm not sure I can do everything you did in photopills app (argh!!!) but I will try. At least I understand the concept now and I love how you explained that focal lenth and aperature control the distance away where focus to infinity occurs. Photopills is the best and thanks for the great video and explanation! Much appreciated!

[@PhotoPills]

Give it a try! It's easier than it looks :P

[@TerryStoa]

I'm going to live demo (in a virtual meeting) PhotoPills to my local camera club next week - so this was a very nice refresher. I've been studying and you have so many great resources. The fine-tuning step was one that I've generally not used. And - the size of the moon vs. your other subject. Thanks.

[@PhotoPills]

Awesome! Thanks so much Terry!

[@ronnieb9821]

What a great video :-) thank you for sharing this information. Sooo cool.

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much!

[@bobsheridan6692]

Thanks for a very helpful and informative video. I'm looking forward to using this in the near future and did not realize that changing the focal length of my lens had such an effect. Great explanation.

[@PhotoPills]

Yes! Give it a try! And thanks!

[@Mackymcd]

excellent info, I never get into the maths and calculations but this explanation and visual guide is fantastic thanks!

[@PhotoPills]

Awesome!

[@photonsonpixels]

Great tutorial, Rafael. Thank you!

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Jorge!

[@earavichandran]

Clear explanation. Photopills is wonderful app.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Ravi!

[@amitsalvi]

thanks for the gr8 app and the tutorials....its tremendous!

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Amit!

[@MrShite]

Always informative and interesting videos Many thanks Rafael

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks Phil!

[@callmehank88]

Thanks Rafa, well explained.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you!

[@davespencer9658]

Excellent video! Thanks!

[@PhotoPills]

Muchas gracias Dave!

[@shazzam532]

What an amazing app. I didn't realise there was so much information within it. I have only ever used it to locate the position of the sun or the milky way. I am unsure I will ever learnt to use it, but will have a go. Thank you ..

[@PhotoPills]

Give it a try!! Also check our photography planning guide, it'll help you a lot: www.photopills.com/articles/photography-planning-guide

[@shazzam532]

@@PhotoPills I will do. Thanks again 😊

[@PhotoPills]

@@shazzam532 ;)

[@NickNoblePhotography]

Awesome. Thanks.

[@PhotoPills]

Cool!!

[@elies7]

Great Info as usual

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks!

[@drshawnie]

Thank you so muck Rafael

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Shawnie!

[@bryan67thomas]

Great explanation !

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Bryan!

[@marvmiller8885]

Rafa, fantastic demo & explanation, as usual.TIP: for a quick near distance 1/2 of the HFD = the near distance. Anxiously waiting for PP Camp 2022.

[@PhotoPills]

Good tip! The Camp 2022 is approaching!

[@dipendrabandyopadhyay6111]

nice explanation..thanks sir..

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you!

[@PhotoPills]

Need help photographing the Moon? Comment below! 😜 👉 And check our super detailed Moon photography guide: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide

[@SherwoodBotsford]

Two more options: In this case there was nothing to focus on beyond the lighthouse. But you could use your map to find a place that is the same distance as the hyper focal distance, focus on that, set your focus to manual, and switch back. A way in PP to draw a circle at the hyper focal distance would help doing this. A second option is to move to one side, take a picture of the moon beside your subject, focused only on the moon. Then take a picture of your subject without the moon, and composite in post. This can result in parallax problems if you are including the horizon. You can also shoot the lighthouse first at optimum light, then shoot the moon when it's above the light house, and 'move the moon' in post.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you for sharing more options!

[@VictorZubakin]

What about two shots focusing on the moon & the subject then focus-stacking in post-processing.

[@PhotoPills]

Yes! But if you want it in one shot... :P

[@princcipe]

Hiperfocal !!

[@PhotoPills]

Yeah!!

[@edwarddebruyn8717]

Maybe it's good to show how to change the hight of the black (and red pin). Because it's possible that the position of the camera could be 10 or more meters above ground level (on top of a building). A total different situation if you want to shoot the moon right above or on top a building.

[@PhotoPills]

You can do it by tapping More>Altitude (at the bottom right hand corner)

[@mirko2481]

Do you have a video about dof near limit and fat limit? I'm still confused about what it is

[@PhotoPills]

Yes! kzbin.info/www/bejne/g33LaWCfqJ6fjaM

[@BetoBormann]

Hi Rafa! How you doing, bro? Let me ask you something about the Planner... When you use a teleconverter, how do you use to input the camera settings, as you have some changing on the numbers? Like focal distance, aperture.. How the planner handle this? Thanks so much in advance!

[@PhotoPills]

When setting the focal length you'll see the teleconverter option in there :)

[@leighrieder3717]

Besides your mobile app, has there been a desktop version created yet? It is sometimes quite difficult to do these movements with a phone, and a desktop version would make it much easier. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@PhotoPills]

Not yet! But we'd love to have it in the future :)

[@creativeminded11]

In the meantime, you could use an Android emulator on your desktop :)

[@leighrieder3717]

@@creativeminded11 I use iOS and Mac....is there anything similar for Mac?

[@pruthuvanara1243]

I tried to shoot the full moon today with one subject 1.2 km away from me using Canon 200mm focal length but didn't get the effect of massive moon in background with a subject

[@pruthuvanara1243]

Can you please help me with this and how to shoot it ??

[@PhotoPills]

The further away you go from your subject, the larger the Moon will appear relative to it. This video will help you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXiclpSXf7GmepI

[@pruthuvanara1243]

@@PhotoPills thanks alot, I visited your website and it helped me alott

[@HarithSalinda]

What can happen once you determine your hyper focal distance and focus, and then you switch to crop mood ?

[@PhotoPills]

Use the tool explained in the video. Change the camera to a Crop Sensor one and you'll see :)

[@HarithSalinda]

@@PhotoPills I’m using Sony a7iii but it’s crop mode is not showing in the list. And a7iii sensor size is 35.6 x 23.8, but in the list it’s 35.8 x 23.8

[@PhotoPills]

@@HarithSalinda You can select any Sony camera with a crop factor sensor. And we have the correct sensor size. Check the camera brochure here www.gim-international.com/files/236d56694619de7b901ac142412663df.pdf

[@williamconnell6541]

Take a photo of your foreground then of the moon and blend in your software eg lightroom/photoshop etc.... wayyyyyy easier.

[@PhotoPills]

That's too much work! (unless the dynamic range is so hight that you can't get the photo in a single shot) :P

[@heatherwest1276]

I cannot seem to see the size of the moon by my black pin. Thank you, great video

[@PhotoPills]

You need to align the moon with the black pin and check Panel 2. Or maybe you need to update PhotoPills :P

[@heatherwest1276]

@@PhotoPills Thank you,

[@IsmaelMartinezPR]

You don't really relate that this is theoretically impossible have both in sharp focus. The problem is that people see the composites every amateur does and puts in their portfolio or 2 different photos and think they can do the same with just one exposure. Even using your suggestion, you need at least a 400mm ( cheapest canon $600 used) and a really steady tripod. Not happening for most.

[@PhotoPills]

Yes, there is only 1 plane that is 100% in focus. The rest is "acceptably sharp".

[@marichiarra8495]

So this is just promotion and use of an app?

[@PhotoPills]

Hey! In our PhotoPills channel you'll find many more videos on how to use the app to plan your photos. Happy 2024!

[@sergiotumminello544]

Spiegazione troppo veloce per una metodologia troppo complicata!!!

[@PhotoPills]

Hi Sergio, on youtube you can slow down the video. If you prefer reading, here you have everything you need: www.photopills.com/articles/moon-photography-guide