Lunar Eclipse - Blood Moon

Last night the moon dissapeared behind the earth's shadow. Over a period of a few hours the moon changed from an extremely bright full moon to the dark ochre colour of a blood moon.

Here is some information regarding the phenomenom from NZ news.


"The phenomenon last happened seven years ago.A lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth and moon are all in a perfect alignment and the moon falls onto Earth's shadow. Then some of the sun's light from behind the earth comes through Earth's atmosphere and reflects onto the moon creating the red glow.There are many superstitions associated with a lunar eclipse.
In Chinese history it was believed the moon was being swallowed by dragons.
And some Japanese believed the red glow was poison falling from the sky and they would cover their water wells.
And despite the common term "the man in the moon", Maori believe it is a woman in the moon and her name is Rona. When an eclipse occurs some Maori believe Rona tries to attack and destroy it. When the moon later reveals itself it is said to reappear more young and beautiful."

Here are the photos I got. They were taken in order from start to total eclipse. I didnt get any photos of the return cycle as my patience and warmth ran out. :) Taking photo's of the moon is quite hard but I think I had it figured by the end of the night. Would have loved another 200mm on my lens though. All shots were taken at 300mm, low ISO, shutter between 1/8 to 1/30 and aperture around 22-29. Tripod and remote release also essential.

Enjoy!