I’m stoked – a complete lunar eclipse blood moon is ready to grace our skies on Thursday night / Friday morning this week (March 13 / 14, relying on the place you reside) and I do know upfront that it is occurring.
I do not find out about you, however I plan to set the alarm early to discover a view and soak on this particular celestial occasion: a complete lunar eclipse and full moon final occurred three years in the past the place I reside within the UK.
Naturally, as TechRadar’s Cameras Editor, I’ll be packing my large digital camera with a telephoto lens, plus a flagship smartphone with a telephoto digital camera to get some snaps.
Sadly, people like me within the UK will solely be capable to see a partial eclipse earlier than the moon units. However, the place of the moon within the sky in the course of the partial eclipse might nonetheless make for spectacular pictures that I’m excited to strive for.
In the US and Canada, nonetheless, night time sky gazers will be capable to see the eclipse at its most level, relying on visibility.
Thankfully, the place I’m, the climate forecast appears to be like prefer it may very well be favorable, and I’ve received every thing crossed it stays that method. So, I’ve been hatching a plan to make sure I’m prepped to get my best-ever photographs of a (partial) lunar eclipse.
In this text I cowl the fundamentals – what the celestial occasion is and what time it is occurring the place you might be. Then I clarify how one can get set with a cellphone or digital camera to get the absolute best photographs the place you might be, with the gear you’ve got.
What is a blood moon?
There’s a full moon on the night of March 13 and the early hours of March 14, and since it coincides with a lunar eclipse, the moon may even flip a vibrant shade of pink, therefore the time period ‘blood moon.’
An eclipse happens when the Earth sits nearly completely between the solar and the moon, which blocks direct daylight from reaching the moon and, subsequently, refracting its mild by our ambiance.
The final time this celestial occasion occurred was nearly precisely three years in the past the place I reside. In different phrases, it is an astrophotography jackpot, particularly if the place of the moon and the climate circumstances are favorable the place you might be in the course of the complete eclipse.
When and the place can I see the blood moon?
Where the blood moon will look its greatest and reddest depends upon the place you might be on planet Earth in the course of the lunar eclipse. The complete eclipse lasts for round 65 minutes, with the utmost eclipse in the midst of that interval.
The cities of New York (US) and Toronto (Canada) will be capable to see 2025’s lunar eclipse at its most level, when the moon is at its reddest, throughout unsociable hours in the midst of the night time, whereas in San Francisco (US) the occasion is earlier, in fact, sneaking in on Mar 13.
Meanwhile, in London (UK), the moon may have already set as soon as the whole eclipse begins, that means the total moon will not be seen in its ‘blood’ kind.
Thankfully, for astronomy lovers within the UK, there’ll nonetheless be the prospect to see a partial eclipse pre-dawn because the moon units, which might, in flip, present wonderful pictures alternatives, together with factors of curiosity within the surrounding panorama.
This eclipse path map will help you identify precisely what time the whole lunar eclipse takes place the place you might be, whereas NASA’s eclipse web site can be very useful. That NASA web site hyperlink maps out all the complete lunar eclipses between 2021 and 2030 – click on on the 2025 Mar 14 choice for information about this week’s eclipse.
For fast reference, I’ve listed a couple of key locations within the US / Canada the place the eclipse is seen under. If you are within the UK, the absolute best time to see as a lot of the eclipse as attainable is at 6:19AM.
|
City |
Partial eclipse begins |
Total eclipse begins |
Maximum eclipse |
Total eclipse ends |
|
San Francisco, USA |
22:09PM (PDT, Mar 13) |
23:26PM (PDT, Mar 13) |
23:58PM (PDT, Mar 13) |
00:31AM (PDT) |
|
New York, USA / Toronto, Canada |
01:09AM (EDT) |
02:26AM (EDT) |
02:58AM (EDT) |
04:47AM (EDT) |
|
London, UK |
05:09AM |
06:26AM however moonset is 06:22AM and max seen eclipse is 06:19AM. |
06:58AM (not seen) |
07:31AM (not seen) |
How to {photograph} the whole lunar eclipse blood moon
To get your best-ever blood moon pictures, you’ll want to plan the most effective location, pack the fitting gear and execute utilizing essentially the most appropriate digital camera settings. Let’s take a whistle-stop tour of every of these components.
Planning
It’s simple sufficient to level on the white orb because it turns pink within the night time sky and snap a photograph. However, if you would like next-level moon photographs, I’d think about its place within the sky in relation to the panorama round you.
Are there factors of curiosity that you would be able to additionally embrace within the body? Can you even see the moon out of your desired location? That’s the place my favourite night time sky app, PhotoCapsules, is available in.
Made particularly for astronomy followers, Photopills (accessible for iOS / Android for $9.99 / £9.99 / AU$14.99) is my most used pictures app. For the whole lunar eclipse, its augmented actuality mode shall be significantly useful. It can venture exactly the place the solar and moon shall be within the sky at any time and day (all the way down to the minute – like for the utmost eclipse), which will help you compose next-level photographs that embrace factors of curiosity.
On a fundamental stage, you will have to know if you happen to may even see the moon in the course of the lunar eclipse. In the UK, the utmost visibility is throughout moonset, so you will want an unimpeded west-facing view.
For a deeper dive on learn how to plan, try the supremely useful video from the Photopills staff, under.
Watch On
The gear you want
Pack checklist
A telephoto lens (ideally 300mm or longer, or a 10x optical zoom)
Photopills app (elective)
Tripod (elective)
Headtorch and snacks
Technique-wise, getting respectable snaps of the moon is surprisingly simple, supplied you’ve got the fitting gear.
You’ll wish to get shut sufficient to see particulars of the whole eclipse and/or embrace factors of curiosity within the surrounding panorama for perspective. That necessitates a telephoto lens.
I’m packing a full-frame Sony A1 II mirrorless digital camera with Sony’s FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 OSS lens, which, for me, is the perfect zoom vary to experiment with composition, whether or not that is filling your complete body with the moon on the telephoto finish, or together with environment on the extensive finish.
The A1 II (under) has a 50MP sensor, which can give me loads of pixels to play with ought to I wish to crop in additional. If you’ve got a couple of digital camera, I’d counsel going for the one with extra pixels.
If you are utilizing a cellphone, you will wish to strive the telephoto digital camera. Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 10x optical zoom, whereas most flagship handsets embrace a telephoto lens with a 5x optical zoom (approx).
Those optical zooms will really feel somewhat extensive, particularly if you happen to merely need a close-up of the moon. The various is extending that zoom digitally, however bear in mind that picture high quality is worse utilizing a digital zoom. I counsel attempting each – intelligent computational processing utilized to photographs taken with a digital zoom could make for acceptable outcomes.
The moon is so vivid that you simply’ll be taking pictures with shutter speeds which are quick sufficient for going handheld, and it’s best to nonetheless get sharp element. However, in case you have a tripod, I’d nonetheless advise packing one as a result of it will take the pressure and may make exact composition simpler.
If you might be venturing far and/or mountaineering someplace darkish, pack the fundamentals to make your life simpler and extra comfy: snacks, a flask of one thing sizzling, and a headtorch.
Camera settings
If your digital camera can shoot pictures in RAW + JPEG, choose this selection. You would possibly get nice pictures straight out of the digital camera, however the RAW file format offers additional leeway for recovering element, like if the moon blows out.
I’ll use the Sony A1 II and 200-600mm lens for some compositional flexibility between moon-only photographs and people who embrace environment.
Manual publicity mode offers you full management over aperture, shutter velocity, and ISO. At the identical time, you may additionally wish to choose handbook focus in case your digital camera’s autofocus struggles to nail sharp focus or repeatedly focus hunts.
Exposure settings will change in the course of the lunar eclipse cycle. The full moon shall be significantly vivid earlier than the whole eclipse begins and seem a lot darker (and pink) in the course of the most eclipse.
A superb start line for the partial eclipse, taking pictures handheld, is an f/8 aperture, 1/500sec shutter velocity, and ISO 200 sensitivity. You’ll have to push the digital camera’s functionality additional when in the course of the complete eclipse.
You will not want to make use of a tripod exterior of the whole eclipse as a result of the moon is so vivid, however I’d advocate one when the eclipse is in full swing.
If you are utilizing a tripod, you should utilize a slower shutter velocity than 1/500sec, whilst sluggish as 1/8 sec even with a telephoto lens, if the help is steady and also you keep away from digital camera shake with a self-timer.
A ‘correct’ digital camera is what I’ll depend on for my greatest lunar eclipse photographs, however I’ll additionally give it a go along with my Pixel 8 Pro smartphone’s 5x optical zoom. That means the moon is small within the shot, however I can embrace the environment.
Night mode will increase the quantity of perceivable element in darkish scenes, which is a should, given the excessive distinction between the intense moon and the darkish panorama.
I’ll even have the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which includes a Pro mode that provides me the choice to shoot in RAW format and manually modify the brightness utilizing publicity compensation.
If your smartphone lacks any of these options, it may very well be value downloading an iOS app like Halide Mark II or an Android app like Open Camera, each of which permit for handbook management of the digital camera.
I may even apply the identical strategies with a cellphone that I do my digital camera, that’s utilizing a sturdy help and a self-timer.
Bring on the whole lunar eclipse – I can not wait!
