Take stacked photos of night-sky with the Moon

Question

I would like to ask about photographing night sky (stacked photos) with 80% Moon. It's about 80%, but the moonrise will be at 21:59. So technically when I would like to take photos of the opposite site (in mountains) of the sky around 22:30, would there be sufficient dark to take a worthy photos? Should I give up and come at moonless night?

cliffclof · Accepted Answer

My experience with star photos and almost any moon will make photos appear to be daylight out.
If you are trying to capture the moon in the shot with stars it will be very difficult unless the moon is a sliver crescent.  A few minutes before moonrise your sky will begin to wash out similar to the sunrise.
If you are trying to capture photos facing away from the moonrise it can illuminate the landscape in different ways that can either be good or bad depending on what you are trying to achieve.  The photos can often turn out looking like a daytime shoot with small moons in the sky.
One option if you want the moon in the shot, and you are not trying to accurately depict the night sky, is to set your camera on a tripod. Use the 20% darkness portion of the night to capture the stars. Then wait for the moon to rise where you anticipate and expose for it. Snap; composite them together.
Your best bet is to use an app like Photopills to determine the next night that meets criteria for a desired shot.
Here is a timelapse i shot in this video that shows a moon rise for reference.
https://youtu.be/BDcuMiglyyg?t=85s
Happy snapping.

Take stacked photos of night-sky with the Moon

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