Lighthaus Camera: Blood Moon Monday/Tuesday

April 15, 2014 will be remembered for two things. The obvious is that it is when taxes are due. The other is the fact that there will be a blood moon eclipse the night of the 14th and early morning hours of the 15th. The blood moon is when the Earth, Sun and the moon are in perfect alignment, covering the moon from view in the Earth's shadow. The eclipse should last for several hours, starting around 7:00 pm and lasting until 12:30 for the full eclipse

Taking pictures of an eclipse is not the same as when taking pictures of the moon. Normally the moon is lit up by the sun so it is bright where fast shutter speeds and low ISO is common without having to worry about noise. Because of the Earth's shadow, causing the eclipse, you will have to decrease shutter speeds and increase your ISO. Especially with lenses above 300mm. At the beginning of the eclipse, typical setting should be around 1/125 to 1/250th of a second @ f/11 with an ISO between 100 to 200. Then exposing for the dark part of the moon will be at 1 second @ ISO 200 and slowing the shutter over time to compensate for the lack of light: 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1.

Please check with your closest Lighthaus Camera location to purchase that tripod, buy that long lens or even rent that long lens. We have four locations across the islands to serve your lunar photographing needs. We hope the weather is clear and your tripod is steady. Good luck.

Photo in this post was taken by Nasim Mansurov from his article on photographylife.com.