Introduction
The total lunar eclipse on September 8, 2025 was one of the most anticipated celestial events of the year. I planned to capture it from South Australia, combining telephoto close-ups with wide-angle compositions that included local landmarks. Looking back, the night brought both successful frames and frustrating mistakes. This blog records what worked, what failed, and what I will carry into future eclipses.
Acquisition Details
For this eclipse I worked with two Sony A7R V cameras. One was paired with the Sony FE 70–200mm GM II and a 2× teleconverter to record close-up views of the Moon. The second was equipped with the Sony FE 16–35mm GM II to capture wide-angle compositions with foreground elements such as the Port Germein tide clock.
Tracking with an Equatorial Mount
At first, I assumed an equatorial mount would be an advantage. In reality, it created extra complications:
- Polar alignment in the southern hemisphere is already less straightforward, and the bright full Moon made it even harder to align properly.
- Even once aligned, the mount drifted enough that after 2–3 hours I had to stop and reframe.
For wide-angle or mid-focal compositions, a tripod would have been simpler. The mount only proved useful at longer focal lengths, but even then it demanded constant adjustment.
The Ozone Band Challenge
One of my goals was to capture the faint bluish ozone band that appears during partial phases. Post-processing alone was not enough; simply lifting the shadows produced a flat and noisy result.
The solution is to bracket exposures:
- One set for the bright section of the Moon.
- Another for the dark umbral portion.
- Combine them later in HDR to reveal the band naturally.
This was a missed opportunity during this eclipse, and a reminder that certain details require planning at the time of capture.
Wide-Angle with Foreground
My other focus was combining the eclipse with terrestrial scenery, such as the tide clock at Port Germein. Two points stood out:
- Focusing – Sharp focus should always be set on the Moon. Foreground details can be captured separately with proper focus and blended later if needed.
- Timelapse Exposure – I made the mistake of keeping settings fixed for the whole sequence, calibrated to the red Moon at totality. The result: the brighter phases were hopelessly overexposed.
Next time, I will either manually adjust shutter speed throughout the eclipse or test aperture priority with spot metering to see if the camera can keep exposures balanced.
Recommended Settings
Based on this attempt and standard practice, here are the settings I would recommend for lunar eclipses:
| Eclipse Stage | Aperture | Shutter Speed | ISO | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | f/5.6 – f/8 | 1/125s – 1/250s | 100 | Extremely bright, requires fast shutter and low ISO. |
| Partial Eclipse | f/5.6 – f/8 | 1/60s – 1/125s | 100 | The shadow grows, but ISO can remain at 100. |
| Totality | f/4 – f/5.6 | 0.5 – 3s | 200 – 800 | Keep ISO below 800 to avoid noise. Exposure time depends on focal length—longer lenses demand shorter times to prevent trailing. |
Key reminder: the longer the focal length, the shorter the safe exposure. At 200 mm, up to 2–3 seconds is workable. At 500 mm or more, exposures should stay under ~1 second unless perfectly tracked.
Reflection
This eclipse made clear how different lunar work is compared to deep-sky imaging. The range in brightness is extreme, and no single exposure covers the entire event. My struggles with polar alignment, overexposed timelapse frames, and the missed ozone band all came down to insufficient planning in the field.
What I take forward is simple: prepare exposure strategies for each phase in advance, rely on HDR when needed, and accept that wide-angle compositions require flexibility. Not every frame succeeded, but the lessons are now part of my preparation for the next eclipse—and that alone makes the experience worthwhile.