How to take a photo of August's 'blue supermoon'

Professional photographers and would-be photographers will have the opportunity to take a picture of the first blue supermoon of the year on Wednesday night, which is also the last one until 2037.

Before people whip out their cellphones, or better yet, their fancy DSLRs, to take a picture of this rare blue supermoon, they should know exactly what they're trying to capture.

The moon will be what NASA calls a "trifecta of labels," as it will be a full moon, a supermoon and a blue moon.

A blue moon refers to the second time a full moon appears during the same month, according to NASA. A supermoon is when it is at the closest point in its orbit around the Earth.

The best camera to use

While people will be tempted to pull out their iPhones or Android devices to take pictures of the blue supermoon, the best camera to photograph Earth's neighboring celestial body is a mirrorless camera, or a DSLR, according to ABC News' Deputy Photo Director Gary Hershorn.

"The easiest way to photograph the moon is not with a telephone [camera] but with a real camera, where you can control the exposure of your camera a lot easier than you can with your mobile phone," Hershorn said. "The difference between a camera and a mobile phone is that the mobile phone doesn't let you zoom that much. So, however you photograph it, it's going to be very small."

The moon will begin to rise in the sky 15 minutes after sunset on Wednesday, at approximately 7:31 p.m. ET and will be in the night's sky by 7:46 p.m. ET.

Trying to capture a clear photo of the moon against the dark sky is particularly difficult since cameras tend to photograph it as a white dot, Hershorn said.

A camera with a telephoto lens between 200 millimeters and 600 millimeters would be a person's best bet to capture a photo of the blue supermoon.

You can still use a smartphone

Despite DSLRs, mirrorless cameras and even point-and-shoot cameras being better devices to take a picture of the blue supermoon than the camera on your smartphone, people can still use their smartphones to capture a good shot – as long as they are willing to tinker with the camera settings, according to Hershorn.

"All the mobile phones have an exposure compensation setting," he said. "It's really important that people use that exposure compensation slider to try to get the moon in a way that isn't way overexposed."

Going the distance

Most people trying to photograph the moon tend to aim the cameras on their phones at the sky and take a picture. However, being a few miles away from a particular location and finding an object to shoot the moon alongside is the best way to get a great picture, according to Hershorn.

"It's really important for people to place the moon in a way it identifies where you are," Hershorn said.

Hershorn also suggests deciding if you want to take a wide-angle photograph that would show a city's skyline or something else because it gives scale to the size of the moon.

For example, someone living in New York City planning to take a photo of the blue supermoon should consider photographing it alongside a landmark like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building or One World Trade Center.

If a person isn't around any landmarks, they can use trees, cactuses or even a lighthouse if it's something that makes it clear where they are, Hershorn said.

Lights! Camera! Action!

When taking a photo of the blue supermoon you should know the right time to snap your lens, which is when the moon is as low to the horizon as possible, according to Hershorn.

The closer the moon is to the horizon, the darker it'll be, Hershorn said, adding that the moon gets brighter as it rises.

"Every minute that it rises above the horizon, it gets brighter to a camera, and you're more than likely at that point to have a picture of a white circle rather than an orange ball," Hershorn said, adding that it's like a photo of the sun, which looks orange the closer it is to the horizon.

Hershorn said that despite being able to observe the moon with your eyes, it is an extremely bright object in the night sky and that it's easier to take a picture of it when it's low in the sky because it's darker.

"Cameras prefer the moon when it is darker than when it's lighter," Hershorn said.

ABC News' Yi-Jin Yu contributed to this report.

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