Wednesday, 8 April will see the second of two Super Full Moons for 2020.
A Super Full Moon occurs when the centre of the Moon is near its closest approach (less than 360,000 kilometers) to the centre of Earth. Because it’s so close to Earth, a Super Full Moon appears to be about 16% brighter than an average Full Moon. Photographers living in Adelaide and Perth should be able to take pictures of this relatively rare event. Those living in Australia’s other capital cities will probably be denied the opportunity due to forecast cloudy skies, although the clouds may clear in the Hobart and Melbourne areas by the evening.
The best time to photograph a Super Full Moon, or any other Full Moon, is just after moonrise, when the Moon is close to the horizon. Just before moonset is also a good time because, in each case you have the chance to include the horizon in the picture and create a more meaningful image. Click here for a link to a website that provides lookup times for major cities around the world.
You’ll need a fairly long lens to photograph the moon, even if you plan to include some foreground in the composition. Mount your camera on a tripod and use a low ISO setting. Shoot raw file (as well as JPEGs) and under-expose by up to a stop. Use of HDR (high dynamic range) modes could yield good results. Bracketing across a 0 to -1.7EV is worthwhile if your camera doesn’t support HDR capture.