Photographing The Total Lunar Eclipse December 20th and 21st 2010

Updated 12/16/2010: North and South America to Witness a Total Lunar Eclipse, Get Out Your Tripods and Digital Cameras!

Once again we witness a total lunar eclipse beginning for some of us on December 20th or the wee hours of December 21st 2010. For photographers and aspiring astrophotographers, this is a once in a while opportunity to expand techniques and portfolios with one of natures greatest shows, a total lunar eclipse. They only come around every few years. If the cloud cover cooperates, you’re in for a great show, and a great photographic subject if you dare.

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“And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear.
And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes
I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon…” Pink Floyd, Brain Damage, from the album Dark Side of the Moon

Once every few years we are blessed with a celestial event, a partial or total lunar eclipse. The last time a total lunar eclipse occurred in North America was February 20th, 2008. I have also photographed the previous viewable lunar eclipse way back on October 27, 2004.

Composite by Kevin L. Moss. Total Lunar Eclipse, October 27, 2004

How does it happen?

A lunar (scientific term for the Moon) eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the shadow of earth, thus blocking light from our sun. Instead of turning the moon dark, it actually turns the \moon into a beautiful shade of red, the color of the earth’s shadow. The earth’s shadow casts a red glow due to its atmosphere. Our atmosphere redirects light, through its dusty layer of air to the shades of red seen during the “umbra” of the eclipse, the time when the light of the sun is totally blocked by the earth.

At times during the Umbra, about 1 hour during the eclipse, you can even see a turquoise color in the lighter side of the moon, caused by the earth’s ozone layer.

Composite by Kevin L. Moss. Total Lunar Eclipse, February 20, 2008

My technique for shooting the moon is simple:

Turn up Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on your iPod.

A tripod is a must. You’ll be shooting long exposures, thus you’ll need stability of your camera.

Shoot in manual mode. I set my aperture on my digital SLR to f/5.6, the spot where I think my lens is at its sharpest.

Use a long lens. My lens reaches to 200mm, 350mm with a tele extender, but a longer focal length is preferred, 400mm to 500mm would be ideal.

Set you camera to ISO 400. Any ISO setting above 400 for most DSLR’s may result in image noise in your photos.

Set shutter speed manually. For bright moons, shutter speeds of 400 to 500 are ideal at an aperture setting of f/5.6. You’ll have to experiment though.

Use a remote shutter release or your cameras self-timer. The moon isn’t the only subject where this practice is important. When you click your shutter button on your camera, you are in fact introducing vibration, which blurs images. Using a remote shutter release or your cameras self-timer eliminates this vibration.

Experiment, and have fun!

The Moon and the Stars, Full Umbra, Kevin L. Moss February 20, 2008