How to Photograph the Moon with a Smartphone: Practical Exposure Settings

Smartphone photos of the Moon often end up as disappointing, blurry white blobs surrounded by blackness. The root cause is almost always automatic camera metering. Because the camera sensor detects an overwhelmingly black night sky, its algorithm aggressively boosts exposure time and ISO sensitivity, completely overexposing (blowing out) the sunlit lunar surface. The essential photographic truth to remember is the "Looney 11 rule": the Moon's surface is illuminated by full, direct sunlight. In terms of light physics, capturing lunar detail requires daytime exposure parameters, not nighttime night-mode settings. Practical smartphone steps: 1. Turn off Night Mode and Flash completely. Night mode attempts multi-second long exposures that guarantee a blown-out white circle. 2. Tap on the Moon on your phone screen to lock focus. 3. Slide the exposure slider (the sun icon next to the focus box) downward until the glare collapses and you can clearly see the dark basaltic patches (maria) and crater rims. 4. If using telephoto zoom, keep optical zoom within physical camera limits; avoid excessive digital zoom that introduces AI interpolation artifacts. 5. Brace the phone against a solid railing or use a compact tripod with a 2-second timer to eliminate hand shake blur.