Capture the blood moon in all its copper-tinged glory

Whether you call it the super blood moon, the super flower blood moon or a lunar eclipse of the heart, a very special celestial event will be taking place this week and now’s the perfect time to make a photographic battle plan for capturing it.
The event is the second  and last  supermoon of 2021. And it’s taking place because on May 26 the moon will be passing a mere 222,116.6 miles from Earth in galactic terms, a mere cigarette papers width. 
But it’s not just that the full moon will be bigger than normal. Mays full moon will also coincide with a total lunar eclipse, with Earth sitting almost perfectly between the Sun and the Moon. When this happens, the moon will turn a ghostly red, earning it the moniker ‘blood moon’.
With the moon so close youll be practically able to smell our alien neighbors aftershave, so youll be wanting a decent picture or two. Luckily, we’ve put one together so whether you’ve got a camera or phone, it’s time to get your headtorch at the ready and in preparation for Operation Blood Moon.
What is a super blood moon?
You hopefully already know what a full moon is that’s when the Moon sits exactly opposite the Sun, reflecting the maximum possible amount of light, and making for an almost cartoonish, perfectly round satellite.
A super moon is when the moon is at its perigee in other words, when it makes its closest approach to Earth, which means it appears larger in the sky.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / structuresxx)
Super moons are pretty impressive in their own right, but this one will be about 7% bigger than average. That might not sound like much, but it promises to look pretty cool. 
Add that to the rouge of the lunar eclipse, though, and Moon nerds  and the rest of us are in for something pretty special on May 26. Well, depending on where you live…
When and where can I photograph the blood moon?
Exactly where the Moon will look its biggest and reddest is heavily dependent on where you are on this planet. If youre hoping to see any part of the lunar eclipse, the UK is the last place you want to be North, Central and South America are all good bets, Hawaii, huge chunks of Australia (and all of New Zealand) and East Asia are all going to have a good show, too.
(Image credit: NASA / F.Espanak)
If you have the good luck to be in any of those places, you can expect the full lunar eclipse to happen around 11:18 UTC (Universal Time). 
To work out exactly what time that is where you are, use this eclipse path map or check out NASA’s eclipse website (click on the May eclipse’s calendar date for more info). 
But here are some key times for the places that where the total eclipse will be visible (San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore) and partially visible (New York) on May 26. 

For the fortunate places that are likely to get full visibility of the blood moon eclipse, the key times are the 14 minutes or so between when the total eclipse begins and ends. During the partial eclipse, the moon will just be starting to get red, but it should be completely red from the times in the second column above.
How to photograph the super blood moon with your camera
If you can tolerate the late night in some places (allow us to recommend high-sugar cereal bars and a big cup of coffee), youll be rewarded, because unlike a lot of night-sky photography, getting a decent snap is actually pretty straightforward. 
With the Moon reflecting the maximum amount of light possible, you can forget about worrying about the 500 rule, which is an astrophotography formula where you divide the number 500 by the focal length of your lens to give you your maximum exposure time. You also don’t really have to worry too much about star trackers or blended exposures either.
In many cases, the moon will actually be so bright that youll be shooting exposures fast enough to not need a tripod. But if you have one, it’s well worth taking one to your chosen spot to give you that extra leeway.
Shoot for the moon what youll need
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Lesterman)
HeadtorchA telephoto lens (at least 300mm)Photopills app (iOS and Android)TripodSnacks
If youre hoping to get a spectacular, fill-the-frame shot, youre going to want a long lens. Probably a very long lens even 300mm (in full-frame terms) will leave our closest galactic neighbor looking a little lonely, if you’re not planning to include any foreground interest.
You’ll certainly get more impressive results if you have a lens in the 500-600mm range, though today’s high-resolution cameras mean that you can always compensate by cropping in a little if not.
You also get bonus points if you can get somewhere with minimum light pollution from nearby towns and cities. But again, with the moon so bright this isnt like Milky Way photography, where every photon counts.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Jaboo2foto)
Shooting the moon on its own doesnt take much in the way of photographic chops. But if you have more grand ambitions than a big glowing circle on a black background, youre going to need to plan a little bit, which is where our favorite night-sky app, PhotoPills, comes in. 
Either way, here’s a solid plan of action for capturing your super blood moon keeper.
(Image credit: Future)
1. Choose your locationIf you want an easy ride, bite the bullet and shell out for Photopills ($9.99 / £9.99 / AU$14.99) as it’s worth its weight in gold. If youre standing where you think youll be for the blood moon, you can use PhotoPills AR function to superimpose the moon on your location, allowing you to see where the Moon will be relative to your surroundings at its various phases. This is particularly handy if you’re looking to snap it next to a landmark, as you can effectively frame your shot in advance. Bear in mind, though, that you may need a wide-angle lens to do this or shoot two exposures  one for the moon and one for the foreground and then blend them together in Photoshop afterwards.
You’ll need to change your exposure settings to capture the different phases of the blood moon. (Image credit: Shutterstock / Lukassek)
(Image credit: Future)
ISO. The measure of how sensitive your camera is to light  the higher the number the faster it reacts to light hitting it. With a bright moon you can keep this low, but you might need to push it up for blood moon total eclipse.
Aperture. The hole in your lens through which light passes. Ordinarily for night-sky photography youd shoot the widest possible aperture to get as much light in as possible, but with for a bright Moon youll be able to stop down a bit.
Shutter speed. The flappy bit of your camera. Again, most night-sky photography uses very long exposures, but with the moon belting out light youll probably be shooting in the hundredths of a second in the partial eclipse.
2. Setting upFor starters, make sure your camera is shooting in raw+JPEG mode, as you’ll likely want the extra editing leeway that raw files give you. This means you’ll be able to tweak the exposure, contrast and clarity to bring out as much detail as possible. Attach your longest lens and switch it into manual mode (usually denoted by an ‘M’ on the mode dial), as photographing a blood moon requires a bit of trial and error with your ISO and shutter speed. You may be able to rely on autofocus for your shot, but be prepared to switch to manual focus, which can also help you avoid having to refocus every time you take a snap. If you’re including a landmark for foreground interest, focus on that.
3. The settingsThere aren’t any hard and fast settings for shooting the blood moon, as they’ll likely need to change in different phases of the eclipse. A good starting point for the partial eclipse is to start at ISO 100, with an f/8 aperture and a shutter speed of somewhere between 1/125-1/250 sec. But when the total eclipse begins, you’ll want to brighten your exposure to make sure the whole moon is well-exposed, rather than just the bright part.
Because you’re likely shooting with a long lens and the moon will be moving through the sky, you’ll want to keep the shutter speed relatively fast (ideally no slower than 1/2 sec). This means that ISO and aperture are your only really levers for adjusting the exposure. Keep your ISO between ISO 800-3200 and your aperture between f/4-f/8, though, and you’ll maximize your chances of a good-quality shot. To improve your chances further, make sure you use your camera’s self-timer rather than pressing its shutter button. 
How to photograph the blood moon with your phone
Not everyone has a dedicated camera, but that doesn’t you’re left out of the blood moon party. You can still snap a decent photo with your smartphone, particularly if you want to shoot a wider angle that includes an interesting foreground. The slightly dimmer eclipsed moon is also slightly easier to shoot with a phone than a blinding full moon, too.
The main thing you’ll need is a camera app that offer a bit more flexibility than your phone’s default camera. Allow us to recommend something from our roundup of the best camera apps: on iPhone your best bet is Halide Mark II, or for Android phones we’d go for Open Camera.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / meatbull)
Halide Mark II might be expensive, but with the option to shoot raw (better dynamic range) and with manual controls, its a natural choice for when you know youre going to face an unusual situation.
Once you have access to manual controls, much of the advice above for cameras applies to shooting with your phone. Shoot in raw to give yourself as much editing leeway as possible, use a tripod like a Gorillapod to keep things steady, and lock exposure on the moon by tapping on it then pulling your finger up or down to tweak the exposure.
The most important thing with a phone shot is to avoid the temptation to digitally zoom into the moon, as the quality will rapidly degrade into a noisy mush instead, try to get creative by including some significant foreground interest like a building and keep the blood moon relatively small in your frame.
Phones don’t have an adjustable aperture, so you’ll need to adjust exposure by either switching to manual mode to play with the shutter speed and ISO, or dragging up or down on the focus point to tweak your exposure. If your app has a self-timer, use that to avoid the camera shake caused by hitting the shutter. And once you’ve grabbed a shot, refine it with one of the best photo editing apps like Snapseed or Lightroom.
Camera+ is another alternative to apps like Halide for getting full manual controls on your phone. (Image credit: Future)
If you want a more impressive full-frame shot you might want more reach than your camera normally offers  even the iPhones 12 “telephoto” lens only reaches 52mm. There are various clip-on options dedicated to long-range phone photography, but youll also get tolerable results holding your phone up to a decent set of binoculars or a telescope indeed the latter might well get you more reach and a bigger subject than even the most impressive telephoto lens.