A “blood moon” lunar eclipse will dazzle viewers this weekend, September 7-8, and provide photographers their second chance of 2025 to capture incredible total lunar eclipse images.
While the total lunar eclipse in March was viewable in much of North and South America, the spectacle late Sunday and early Monday morning will be best viewed in Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa. As Space notes, American eclipse fans won’t have to wait long to get another viewing, as the total eclipse in early March 2026 will be visible in North America, Asia, and Australia.
Assuming clear skies, 7.03 billion people on Earth will be able to see at least part of totality, while 6.27 billion will be in position to watch the entirety of the “blood moon” eclipse.
Video credit: timeanddate.com
For the imminent eclipse, European viewers will be treated to a particularly special moment, as the total lunar eclipse will already have begun when the moon rises above the horizon. The dark-red moon will poke above the horizon at 7:30 PM BST on Sunday in London, just after totality begins. Although there is a tradeoff for seeing the red moon rising, as it means European spectators will see less of totality overall.
Totality for this upcoming total lunar eclipse is quite long, and a fair bit longer than totality was in March. Totality begins at 17:30 UTC and ends at 18:52 UTC, offering a lengthy 82 minutes of “blood moon” viewing.
Unlike viewing a total solar eclipse, there are no particular safety concerns about looking at or photographing a total lunar eclipse. There are challenges, though. While the photography kit for capturing a blood moon is fairly straightforward: camera, lens, and tripod, the blood moon is very dim, so it can be hard to get sharp photos of it in the night sky.
Antoni Cladera of PhotoPills wrote a very detailed guide to photographing a total lunar eclipse for PetaPixel in 2021, and while the eclipse info there is out of date, all the photographic advice, tips, and techniques are timelessly valuable.
Photographers will need to determine if they want close-up or wide-angle photos of the eclipse. For close-ups, a telephoto lens of at least 200mm (35mm equivalent) is a good choice. In this case, faster shutter speeds will be required, which means photographers may need to shoot at higher ISO settings. Wide-angle shots will require careful composition techniques, but may be more accessible for many photographers. In this case, slower shutter speeds should work.
If the weather works out, photographers will have a fantastic opportunity to capture incredible eclipse photos. Maybe some in far northern regions will even be fortunate enough to capture the eclipse during an aurora.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos. Total lunar eclipse video map by timeanddate.com.