How To Take Photos of the Moon Like a Pro
You might think a foray into astrophotography is a large undertaking, but getting started is really simple. Here's how we began taking seriously Instagram-worthy moon pics.
To get images like these, we used a telescope and an adapter that lets you center your phone's camera over the eyepiece of whatever type of scope you're using (you can even use these adapters for binoculars, spotting scopes, and microscopes).
We got a great deal on our telescope during a Prime Day sale two years ago. Here's what we use. You can get into a great piece of equipment for around $200 or less. Having a telescope is a great way to unlock the magic of stargazing -- I know we really fell in love with astronomy the first time we saw Saturn's rings for ourselves from the backyard.
There's a variety of phone adapters available, but here are the two we've used and had good results with. They both operate on the same principle -- giving you the ability to tilt and move your phone up and down to line up with your telescope's eyepiece.
And of course you'll need a smartphone. But don't think you need the latest iPhone to get the best pics. It's been our experience that it's easier to align the camera on an iPhone 8 than an iPhone 12 Pro!
It also provides an opportunity to learn a lot about not just photography, but astronomy as well. Stargazing and astrophotography are interesting activities for the entire family.