18
BAMOS July 2021
Article
Shoot for the Moon : understanding and photographing the total lunar eclipse
CSIROscope
A 5 to 10-second-long exposure of the total lunar eclipse taken with a smartphone , equipped with a 5x-10x optical zoom lens on a tripod . Credit : Alex Cherney .
For 14 minutes between 9:11pm and 9:25pm ( AEST ), on 26 May this year , the Moon appeared large and red in our night sky .
This is commonly known as a ‘ blood Moon ’. It ’ s when a full Moon and a lunar eclipse occur at the same time . And Australia had one of the best views in the world of this marvel .
For those of us marveling at the sky that night , it ' s safe to say most of us wondered how to capture a stunning Moon shot on our smartphones .
Photographer Alex Cherney won the 2020 David Malin Award for Smartphone Astrophotography . He recommends a tripod with an adapter for your smartphone . You ’ ll also need to practice before the evening of an eclipse to get a good picture . Here is what he recommends :
Night vision
On your smartphone , set the display brightness to dim so it doesn ’ t ruin your night vision . Additionally , make sure that your flash is turned off . Then set your smartphone timer to 2-3 seconds to minimise any camera shake .
Zoom in
If your smartphone is equipped with an optical zoom lens , it will help to make the Moon look bigger in your picture . But , using digital zoom doesn ’ t work very well in low light . So only zoom in enough that you don ’ t lose the quality of your image .
Focus far
Practice during the day or night using manual focus . Focus your smartphone on an object in the distance and make it as clear as possible . Most Android phones can be switched to Pro mode with manual focus and exposure controls , but iPhones will need a third-party camera app such as Camera + 2 or Halide .
Long exposure
Keep in mind that the Moon gets red and very dim during an eclipse , so you ’ ll need a couple of seconds of long exposure with your smartphone on a tripod . Again , practice before an eclipse and learn how to adjust the image brightness or exposure . It ’ s important if you want to take a good photograph .
You may also want to try using night mode if you have an iPhone 11 or 12 , or night sight / night mode on Google Pixel 5 and Samsung S20 or S21 .
Time-lapse
If you ’ re away from the city lights , you can use night mode timelapse on an iPhone 12 . This will really showcase the effects of the Earth ’ s shadow in motion .
Have fun Don ’ t forget to take some time to enjoy the view !