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Real astronomy and dated history, with sources. Documented traditions and folklore. Modern lunar astrology · symbolic, not predictive.

Fact #153 Observing

The sunlit Moon is a landscape in full sunlight, so the exposure that works for it is roughly the one you would use at noon on Earth: f/11, shutter speed one over the ISO.

Nearly every failed moon photograph is overexposed, because the camera meters the black sky around it and opens right up. Photographers call the fix the Looney 11 rule, after the Sunny 16 rule it is derived from. The Moon is dark rock, which is why it is f/11 rather than f/16.

Source: Standard astrophotography practice; NASA Moon observing (opens in a new tab) · checked Sep 2026

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The sunlit Moon is a landscape in full sunlight, so the exposure that works for it is roughly the one you would use at noon on Earth: f/11, shutter speed one over the ISO.

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The sunlit Moon is a landscape in full sunlight, so the exposure that works for it is roughly the one you would use at noon on Earth: f/11, shutter speed one over the ISO.

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