The 2022 Lunar Eclipse - As the Lions Roar
My time in Zimbabwe coincided with the a full lunar eclipse on 16th of May, 2022,
My time in Zimbabwe coincided with the a full lunar eclipse on 16th of May, 2022, and luckily our location was just about within the area of the globe that could experience this rare phenomenon, so I had to find a way to capture it. What a sight it was - and not only that, also an audible experience, read on below…
The Location
The night before the Lunar Eclipse I arrived in the Chewore area of northern Zimbabwe, for entirely different reasons than seeing the earth cast a shadow on the moon - see my blog linked above to find out what they were. Nevertheless, I couldn’t miss this occasion, and went out in the afternoon to find a suitable elevated area in the African bush. We found a clearing 20min from camp, with views towards the hills in the distance. This was going to be our spot, starting from 3am.
The Progression
After a very short night, we headed out into the bush in my guide’s trusty 1962 Land Rover, always on the lookout for elephants, buffalo, baboons, and lions, which roam in this area. Luckily, we only heard them in the distance, which made the experience all the more special, as the occasional roar accompanied the spectacle in the sky. The moon stood high as the eclipse started around 3:30am. It progressed until earth’s umbra covered the moon completely around 5:30am. This total eclipse continued until moonset, and at the same time the sun rose on the opposite side, casting an orange hue into the sky.
Below is a timeslice of this period, using 10 individual photographs.
The Phases
The four images below show the progression of earth’s shadow on the moon. The first three photos were exposed for the bright side of the moon, where the sunlight was still able to illuminate our celestial companion. The last image is exposed for the shadow side of the moon, which in fact starts to glow red due to a phenomenon called Rayleigh Scattering - any sunlight reaching the moon passes through earth’s atmosphere, which lets red light pass more easily than other colors in the spectrum.
A composite of 6 images and their corresponding timestamps.
Totality
The full eclipse, as earth moved in between the sun and moon. If you look closely, you are able to observe some stars around the moon, visible as white dots. This is one of the only times you can photograph other celestial objects in the same exposure as the full moon, which normally shines much brighter than most stars and planets.
A Coincidence
Aside from close ups of the moon, I also had a camera set up for a wide angle view of the landscape. And good thing I did, because it captured this very special moment, combining the blood moon, a hint of the Milky Way as a white band, the colors of the African sunrise, and a meteor crossing the frame, all in one exposure. I love it when things come together, and this will probably be one of my all time favorite photos.
In Motion
Here’s a video of the entire spectacle, both from a wider view as well as a close up of the moon.
All the images shown here were shot with OM System Cameras, specifically an OM-1 and two E-M1 III. No tracker was used.
Lunar Eclipse & Blood Moon over Dubai
July 27th saw the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, which - astronomically speaking - should have been perfectly visible over Dubai. Unfortunately it was one of the very rare summer days where the sky was cloudy, making for some dramatic moments, but mixed with the usual hazy not creating the best environment for taking good photos. Below the results nonetheless. These were shot in the DIFC area after having scouted out the location the day earlier using the Photo Pills app (which is amazing).
July 27th saw the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, which - astronomically speaking - should have been perfectly visible over Dubai. Unfortunately it was one of the very rare summer days where the sky was cloudy, making for some dramatic moments, but mixed with the usual haze not creating the best environment for taking good photos. Below the results nonetheless. These were shot in the DIFC area after having scouted out the location the day earlier using the Photo Pills app (which is amazing).
