photographers

Johan Svensson's supermoon photo at Gröna Lund in Sweden – liked by 34,000 on Facebook

"The moon's appearance did not disappoint us," says photographer Johan Svensson, who received 34,000 likes for his supermoon photo over Gröna Lund.

Published

On August 19, many took the opportunity to photograph this year's first supermoon, which means it shines a bit more and is a bit closer to Earth.

The well-read article on kamerabild.se prompted many to go out and photograph the supermoon, and one of those who did was photographer Johan Svensson who just before midnight posted his picture of that evening's supermoon with "My version of tonight's supermoon in unpaid collaboration with Gröna Lund" in the Facebook group Northern Lights.

The picture became popular on Facebook and has at the time of writing generated 34,000 likes and 520 comments. When Kamera & Bild contacted Johan to congratulate him on the incredible picture, he said he did not expect it to get such widespread attention.

Supermoon August 19, 2024.

- Yes, incredible - the response that picture received, I was not prepared for that.

Tell us - how did it happen when you took the picture?

- A lot was coincidental. Two days before the supermoon was to appear, I learned about the event. Since I was not working that night and the weather looked promising, I decided to try to get some pictures. As I do not have much experience in photographing the moon, I consulted my friend Johan who quickly suggested that we should meet at Blasieholmen in Stockholm and direct our gaze towards Gröna Lund.

- When the evening came, I packed up the equipment, my trusty Sony A7R III along with Sony 70-200mm f/4, 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 and the tripod. Johan and I met up 20 minutes before it was time and set up our equipment, and the moon's appearance did not disappoint us. The big challenge in this context was to get a picture where you can see contrasts in the moon and at the same time capture details of the attractions at Grönan.

Was it difficult to get a good picture?

- At first, there were no major problems as the twilight still cast some light over the city. As time passed and darkness fell, it became trickier. The pictures I took are in RAW format and all were underexposed by 1.3-1.7 steps. After half an hour, it was so dark that we thanked and left the supermoon behind us. Once home, we uploaded the pictures to Lightroom and now a pleasant time awaited in front of the screen.

Did you need to do anything special with the pictures?

- By pulling down the highlights, I was able to bring out details in the moon without any problems. I could even afford to increase the exposure to bring out more details in Grönan. The pictures taken at the beginning of the moon's journey that got a little help from the twilight light are the ones that turned out best. When I finished editing, I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the pictures on Facebook and Instagram. I posted a picture in the group Northern Lights on Facebook and the response was beyond all expectations. I also take the opportunity to thank everyone for all the "likes" and nice comments you've written.

Image data: 1/4s, f/6.3 at 474 mm.

ISO: 320