The Importance of the Moon Phase

Sedona Starlight Portraits are crafted in collaboration with Nature. This means that all aspects of the Natural World during your session play a part in creating the final product. None of these aspects is more impactful than the Moon.

The full moon rising behind hikers on Cathedral Rock.

Our Moon goes through phases each month (in fact, that's where the word "month" comes from!) As it orbits the Earth, it catches a varying amount of sunlight and reflects toward the Earth's surface. When the moon is full, it is by far the brightest object in the night sky, and full moonlight can sometimes resemble daylight in photos. This means that the images we capture are heavily influenced by the moon phase. Milky Way portraits, for example, are not truly possible during a full moon, or any moon illumination beyond about 50%. However, moonlight also paints the red rock landscape, revealing the beautiful details of Sedona at night.

The following is a sampling of the image types shot under various moon conditions to help you envision the images we can create during your time in Sedona.

Full Moon: Red Rocks Under the Stars (75-100% Illumination)

This natural light portrait was captured under a nearly full moon (91% illumination)

The full moon paints the landscape almost as bright as the daytime. While the stars are still clearly visible, the faintest of them will be drowned out by the moonlight. This includes the faint light of the Milky Way. The tradeoff is a beautifully and ethereally lit foreground of red rocks under a blue tinted starry sky. This also makes the full moon ideal for light painting and flash filled portraits.

This flash filled and light painted portrait was captured under a full moon (>99% illumination) The moonlight highlights the unique characteristics of the labyrinth in the foreground

The portrait above was crafted during a full moon. The model held her pose remarkably well through the light painting, and we erased any movement she might have made by using a flash that froze her in a split second of the long exposure. The moonlight painted the stone labyrinth around her and the hills and trees in the background, creating an image that would have been impossible otherwise.

Partial Moon: Darker Skies and Muted Landscapes (25-50% Illumination)

This image was created under a waxing crescent moon (25% illumination)

There is a wide range of partial moonlight, from a faint waxing crescent to a nearly full moon. In general, partial moonlight portraits strike a balance between the vibrant light and color of Full Moon Portraits and the velvety dark of Milky Way Portraits. These images offer great depth in the landscape while still allowing for skies full of stars. They are great for both natural light and light painted or flash filled portrait types. The image above is a natural light portrait captured at 25% moon illumination, while the portrait below was captured under 75% moon illumination and features both light painting and flash.

This image is a single exposure photograph crafted by having the model move toward off camera lights in each direction before being lit by flash at the end of the exposure. It was crafted under 75% moon illumination

New Moon: The Milky Way Comes Out to Play (0-25% Illumination)

This Natural Light Portrait was crafted during a new moon (<1% illumination). The Milky Way core is visible in the sky.

The new moon phase is the most sought after for night sky photographers because of the ability to see the faintest of stars and the distant (and ancient) light of the Milky Way core. The Milky Way core is visible in Sedona from late Spring until early Fall, and the tail end of the galaxy is visible year round. Capturing this light requires longer exposures, which can sometimes make it difficult to avoid motion blur, like that present in the dress on the model above. We can improve motion blur somewhat by using flash, as in the image below. Flash can be used from behind to create a bright light around the subject, from the front to freeze them and fill the foreground, or both.

This Flash Portrait was crafted using a powerful backlight flash and a foreground fill flash to freeze the models during a long exposure that captured the Milky Way core in the background.

We hope this has been a helpful review for understanding the importance of the moon phase in scheduling your session. Beautiful images can be made under any moon phase, but it is best to know what is possible before you book. If you aren't sure what the moon phase will be during your visit, or if you'd like to connect to discuss the best date and time to schedule your preferred shoot type, send us a message and one of our expert night sky photographers will be in touch!