Full Blood Micro moon on July 27th 2018
This was the longest lunar eclipse this century, lasting 1 hour and 43 minutes, and it was also in alignment with the planet Mars. This total lunar eclipse occured on the same day the planet Mars reached its opposition, and consequently it shined at its best in the night sky. And it was spectacular at the point when totality ended and the moon began to move out of the Earth’s shadow. Mars was stunning is conjunction with the Blood Micro Moon. See my first photo below.
This month, Mars will be at its closest to Earth since 2003. After opposition, when Mars will be brightest, it will reach that closest point on July 31.
This was known as a Micro Moon because the moon was at its furthest point from the earth, so the opposite of a Supermoon when it’s at its closest. Blood moon is the common, less scientific name that a lunar eclipse is known by. It simply describes the colour the moon becomes when it is in totality.
I was in Ljubljana, Slovenia the night it happened, so managed to get out and shoot some nice moments just as it moved out of totality. Here are some photos. The first photo is the best, simply because during totality the sky was completely dark. This allowed Mars to shine bright in the sky. While in totality the moon is very dim. By capturing the scene just as the moon began to move out of the earth’s shadow, it adds just a touch of brightness to the scene but not enough to mute the intensity of Mars. Therefore the balance in brightness between these two celestial bodies was just right:
And Mars begins to dwindle
As the moon moved further and further out of the earth shadow, it naturally increased in intensity. Mars became overwhelmed, as all stars do. They cannot compete with the moon. Some light cloud drifted in and out, which also helped to diffuse the moonlight a touch and also add some interesting effects.
The video on how I did it:
In this video tutorial I explain how I photographed the full Blood Micro moon on July 27th 2018.
Here I explain my thinking behind taking the photograph, tips on how to do it yourself, what you need to think of in terms of equipment and technique, and then the editing process. I explain why I photographed it just after totality, and then show you how you can bring out the stars in the background, improve the contrast between the moon and stars and night sky, and tools for retaining detail in the moon itself. Also how to cope with noise at high ISOs.
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