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- Super Moon:<\/strong> The moon appears larger and closer because its at the closest point to the earth (The moon also appears larger when its closer to the horizon)<\/li>\n
- Blood Moon:<\/strong> A total lunar eclipse will appear red because of the earths sunsets.<\/li>\n
- Wolf Moon:<\/strong> A January full moon is known as a wolf moon after howling wolves. Also known as ice moon in some cultures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The important thing is to scout out the location you want beforehand. Check the weather forecast and look for an area with a clear sky. Light pollution isn’t such an issue with photographing the moon as compared to stars. You need an area where you can be uninterrupted for several hours and will have a clear sky. the entire process can last 5 hours with full eclipse lasting an hour. I have successfully shot an eclipse sequence from my open garage before and it wasn’t any worse than when I ventured out into the open desert. If you are looking to frame the moon against a land mark, then you should do a little research and find out where the moon is going to rise and position yourself well in advance.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/photoshopcafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/DSC4894.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThis is one of my shots (uncropped) of the Super Blood Wolf Moon on Jan 20, 2019 at Irvine, CA. Shot with Sony A7III with Metabones 5 adapter, canon 400mm 5.6 L with 2X extender. 1\/8, f\/11 ISO 16000<\/p>\n
You will want a long lens and\/or extension tubes<\/p>\n
This is a lunar eclipse shot with a 200mm lens<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/photoshopcafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/64A9190.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHere I used a 2X extender to get 400mm. Don’t be dismayed, you can crop into the image and get a decent sized moon out of it.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/photoshopcafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/64A6281.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCamera Settings for a lunar eclipse<\/h3>\n
The moon is typically brighter than you think, If you try to shoot a full moon, you will need to underexpose a lot more than you think. However during an eclipse the brightness will be changing as the moon falls into shadow, so you will need to keep your eyes on the settings and update when needed. If have used bracketing before, which provides a level of safety. Here are some things to bear in mind.<\/p>\n
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- Beware of motion blur if your shutter speed is too low (unless you are using a sky tracker such as iOptron).<\/li>\n
- Watch out for excess noise caused by high ISO<\/li>\n
- Extension tubes are a lot cheaper than long lenses. I use a 2x or a 1.4 Canon with my 70-200. I also have a 400 which I might extend.<\/li>\n
- Make sure your focus is tack sharp, infinity won’t cut it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So, in a nutshell, you want a shutter speed of around 1\/125 if you want to avoid motion blur on a long lens. You will want to shoot pretty open, around f4 and keep the ISO as low as possible. Make sure you get your focus early on when the moon is brighter and switch to manual focus and tape it down, don’t touch. If firing manually, use a remote, so you don’t shake the camera. Set your camera to bracket the exposures, 3 exposures should be enough. Last eclipse, I set my intervalometer to 1 shot per minute, giving me 300 shots over the 5 hour period. That would be 900 shots including the bracket. That might be excessive, so you can shoot longer intervals if you like. I might do 2 minutes this time, if the shy is really clear, then I’ll go for 3 minute intervals. I saw this because if there are occasional clouds, then you should shoot more often to get those “safety shots”.<\/p>\n
Make sure your tripod is firmly planted, so that your focus and the size of the moon doesn’t change if you are making a sequence. You will need to keep an eye on the moon position as the moon will travel far and you will need to recompose your shot often. Do this by panning your head and not moving your tripod position, or you risk changing your focus. The good news is that if you are creating a sequence, the moon doesn’t need to be in the same position in frame for every shot.<\/p>\n
Here is a sequence I put together showing all the phases of the eclipse in 2014.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/photoshopcafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/moonphase-e1548017060198.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tips for shooting a Lunar eclipse<\/h4>\n
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- Make sure your batteries are fully charged in your camera and intervalometer<\/li>\n
- Make sure your Card is formatted (bring spare cards)<\/li>\n
- Know where the moons path will go and what time key events will happen<\/li>\n
- Plan to arrive early, so your aren’t rushing to set up<\/li>\n
- Bring warm clothes and something to eat and drink<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How to photograph a Solar Eclipse<\/h2>\n
Check out how to shoot a solar eclipse in this video
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- Blood Moon:<\/strong> A total lunar eclipse will appear red because of the earths sunsets.<\/li>\n