Anoush on the beach. iPhone. Click to see a larger version.

After 11 o’clock at night with the only light coming from the moon, I would assume an iPhone would not be able to capture an image. But I am curious so I tried anyway. I was surprised. iPhones have come a long way. There is a lot of murkiness in the water and sky in this image, but Anoush looks much better than I would have expected from an iPhone image by moonlight. My iPhone tried to create a daylight exposure.

Anoush on the beach. Canon 5D Mark III. Click to see a larger version.

With a tripod and a long exposure you can photograph all kinds of subjects by moonlight as long as they don’t move. As expected, a DSLR provides a much better, cleaner image of Anoush with nice stars in the sky. I went with a subtle exposure that is suitable for moonlight, unlike the exposure my iPhone chose to use.

Exposure Data:

iPhone image, 4.25mm lens (35mm equivalent: 26mm), f/1,8, 1.1 sec, ISO 4000.

Canon 5D3 image, 17-40mm lens at 19mm, f/6.3, 10 seconds, ISO 2500.