Carlos Bastarache: moon-grid-uproxx.jpg

Thursday, 30 November 2017

moon-grid-uproxx.jpg

I always thought things that sounded too good to be true usually aren't told why discovered this!

UPROXX

Leaving aside the contingent of people who think they’re the end of the world, supermoons, where the moon is unusually close to the Earth, are always a celestial treat. This Sunday, the moon will seem bigger and brighter than it usually does, 16% brighter in fact. So, when can you see it? And how should you shoot it for posterity?

First of all, the supermoon will be this Sunday, December 3rd, and you’ll want to look for the supermoon at moonrise. That will offer the most visible effect, because you’ll be able to see the scale of the moon. More on that in a minute. If you’re a night owl, you might want to stick around for 3:45am EST, which is when the moon will be at its brightest and largest in the sky. Keep in mind we’re not talking a sky filled with the moon; it’s only going to be about 7% bigger at that point.

Now, as to the Instagram end of things. 7% bigger is not a lot of size, so if you want the killer shot, you need to be there at moonrise, or moonset and you need something for scale. This can be the horror-movie cliche of the moon rising over the trees (cue wolf howl), or your city skyline. Take this time-lapse, for example:

The scale gives it context, of course. And, naturally, you can always just zoom in, with the moon in the background of a recognizable image:

Either way, don’t just snap the moon in the sky. Put it in a context. What is the moon rising over? Where are you? What makes this view of the moon unique? That’ll go a long way towards a cool supermoon photo. If you do snap the moon this weekend, show us what you get in the comments!