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Lunar Eclipse


On January 21st 2019 it was possible to witness a full lunar eclipse in my hometown - also known as a blood moon. Look at the picture and you understand why. I got up very early on a freezing winter morning and checked out the conditions: clear sky, moon visible ... so unfortunately I could not find any excuse to return to bed.


Lunar Eclipse in Rotterdam

The result exceeded any of my expectations. I believe this is the due to having a proper preparation (something I hardly ever do). This is how I approached to capture the lunar eclipse: 
  • downloaded an app to check the exact time and location of the moon during the eclipse;
  • decided where to go / where I could have a nice composition;
  • switched off the in-body image stabilization (IBIS);
  • picked the two lenses I was going to shoot with (135mm + 200mm);
  • set the alarm;
  • set a back-up alarm.

After arriving at the location (10 min walk from my home) I did some test shots before the moon would reach a full eclipse. This allowed me to understand that ISO 800 was going to work best for me. After that it was just waiting for the eclipse and moving around the tripod for the best possible composition.

What surprised me the most is that moon actually moved quite fast. Composition keeps changing and you cannot do any long exposures. This caught me off-guard as I don't have any experience with astro-photography. 








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