Photographing a lunar eclipse would be considerably easier if the Moon stayed the same brightness all night.
During the early stages, the lunar surface can be intensely bright against a black sky. As Earth’s shadow advances, that brightness falls. Near the deepest portion of an eclipse, the Moon may become dim enough that settings used earlier are no longer remotely suitable.
That changing light is why memorizing one combination of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed rarely works.
A better approach is to keep a lunar eclipse photography settings cheat sheet nearby and adjust exposure based on what the Moon actually looks like.
This guide is designed for exactly that purpose. Instead of explaining every theory behind lunar photography, it gives you starting points, tells you what to change when something goes wrong, and helps you make quick exposure decisions while the eclipse is happening.
Keep in mind these settings are starting points, not guaranteed exposures. Atmospheric haze, cloud cover, focal length, lens speed, eclipse depth, camera sensor, and even your location can affect the final result.
Quick Lunar Eclipse Photography Settings
If you need a fast place to begin, use:
Camera mode: Manual
File format: RAW
Focus: Manual after precise focus is established
White balance: Daylight or approximately 4000K to 5000K
Tripod: Recommended
Drive mode: Single shot, low continuous, or bracketing
Metering: Spot metering can help for initial readings, although Manual exposure gives the most consistency
Image stabilization: Follow your camera or lens manufacturer’s tripod recommendations
Then adjust ISO, aperture, and shutter speed according to how deeply eclipsed the Moon has become.
One important distinction: a lunar eclipse does not require a solar filter or eclipse glasses for photography. Those precautions apply to solar eclipses because you are photographing the Sun. A lunar eclipse is simply the Moon moving through Earth’s shadow.
Lunar Eclipse Settings by Stage
Bright Moon Before the Eclipse Deepens
Start with:
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/8
Shutter speed: 1/250 to 1/500 second
The Moon can be much brighter than it appears against a night sky. Treating it like an ordinary nighttime subject often results in a featureless white disk.
Zoom in after your first exposure.
Visible craters and surface texture matter more than making the Moon look extremely bright.
If the lunar surface looks white and empty, choose a faster shutter speed.
Early Partial Eclipse Settings
As Earth’s darker shadow begins crossing the lunar surface, try:
ISO: 100 to 400
Aperture: f/8
Shutter speed: 1/60 to 1/250 second
This stage introduces a difficult contrast problem.
Part of the Moon may remain brilliantly illuminated while the shadowed portion becomes much darker. Trying to brighten the shadow in a single exposure can destroy detail in the bright section.
Protect the illuminated surface first.
Then capture brighter frames separately if you want detail within the shadow.
Please read How to Read a Camera Histogram if you want a more reliable way to judge those highlights than relying entirely on the camera’s rear screen.
Deep Partial Lunar Eclipse Settings
Once most of the Moon has entered Earth’s shadow, move toward:
ISO: 400 to 1600
Aperture: f/5.6 to f/8
Shutter speed: 1/15 to 1/60 second
Here is where photographers sometimes make the wrong adjustment.
Because the scene is getting darker, the instinct is often to slow the shutter speed dramatically.
Try raising ISO first.
The Moon moves continuously across the sky, and long telephoto lenses magnify that apparent motion. An exposure that gathers plenty of light can still fail if fine crater detail becomes smeared.
A sharper ISO 1600 image can be far more useful than a cleaner ISO 200 photograph softened by motion.
Very Deep Eclipse or Totality Settings
For an especially dark lunar eclipse or totality, try:
ISO: 800 to 3200
Aperture: f/4 to f/5.6 when your lens allows
Shutter speed: approximately 1/4 to 1/30 second
Some eclipses will require settings outside these ranges.
Instead of chasing a predetermined number, monitor sharpness and brightness together.
If a 1/4-second exposure creates soft lunar detail with your focal length, move toward 1/8, 1/15, or 1/30 second and compensate with a higher ISO or wider aperture.
Photographers using very long lenses should be particularly cautious about slow exposures.
The Settings Ladder: What to Change First
As the Moon gets darker, don’t randomly change three settings at once.
Use this order:
1. Open the aperture when practical.
Move from f/8 toward f/5.6 or f/4 if your lens remains sharp there.
2. Raise ISO.
Moving from ISO 400 to 800, 1600, or higher may let you keep a useful shutter speed.
3. Slow the shutter carefully.
Only extend the exposure as far as lunar movement and your focal length will tolerate.
This order prioritizes sharpness.
Noise can often be reduced later. Genuine motion blur across lunar detail is much harder to repair convincingly.
If the Moon Is Too Bright
If you see a glowing white circle without recognizable crater detail, you probably have too much exposure.
Try one adjustment at a time:
- Increase shutter speed
- Lower ISO
- Close the aperture slightly
- Check the histogram for clipped highlights
- Review the image at high magnification
Do not judge exposure only by how impressive the Moon looks on the LCD.
After your eyes adapt to the darkness, a bright screen can make an incorrectly exposed photograph seem much better than it really is.
If the Moon Is Too Dark
During the deeper stages of an eclipse, darkness is expected.
The goal is not to make the eclipsed Moon look as bright as an ordinary full Moon.
However, if useful lunar detail disappears completely:
- Open the aperture
- Increase ISO
- Reduce shutter speed cautiously
- Take several exposures at different brightness levels
- Check whether thin clouds or haze have reduced the available light
Avoid lifting exposure so far that the natural copper, rust, orange, or deep red character disappears.
Those darker tonal values are part of the eclipse.
If Your Lunar Eclipse Photos Look Blurry
Brightness and sharpness are separate problems.
When exposure looks correct, but the Moon appears soft, check:
Shutter speed: It may be too slow for the focal length.
Focus: Zoom in on the Moon and confirm the crater edges look crisp.
Tripod stability: Wind can move a long lens even when the camera body seems completely still.
Shutter vibration: Try a two-second timer, remote release, or another appropriate shutter mode.
Atmosphere: Heat, haze, humidity, and turbulence can soften fine lunar detail.
Lens support: Large telephoto lenses are often steadier when mounted from their tripod collar rather than the camera body.
Please check out How to Photograph a Lunar Eclipse Without Blurry Photos.
Focus on the Moon Before It Gets Dark
Establishing focus early can save valuable time later.
While the Moon is still bright, switch to Live View or use your electronic viewfinder. Magnify the lunar surface substantially, then adjust focus until the edge and visible craters look crisp.
Once you have accurate focus, switch to manual focus.
Autofocus may begin hunting as the eclipse gets darker, particularly when much of the lunar surface has entered shadow.
Check focus again occasionally rather than assuming it will remain perfect for several hours.
Temperature changes, accidental contact with the focusing ring, and repositioning the camera can all affect it.
Bracket the Hardest Part of the Eclipse
Exposure bracketing becomes especially useful when a small bright section of the Moon exists beside a much darker eclipsed region.
Instead of asking one exposure to handle both extremes, create several versions.
For example:
- One darker photograph for highlight detail
- One middle exposure
- One brighter photograph for the shadowed lunar surface
Later, you can select the strongest frame or use the appropriate exposures in a carefully edited composite.
Please read Exposure Bracketing Explained for Beginners before eclipse night if your camera’s bracketing controls are unfamiliar.
Which Lens Works Best?
For a large, detailed Moon, longer focal lengths are generally preferable.
A 200mm lens gives you room around the Moon, while 300mm, 400mm, 500mm, and longer lenses progressively make it more prominent in the frame.
However, filling the photograph with the Moon is not your only option.
A shorter telephoto lens can include a skyline, mountain ridge, lighthouse, bridge, tree, building, or another recognizable foreground. Those environmental compositions often produce photographs with more personality than a lunar disk floating alone against black sky.
Affiliate note: This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases made through qualifying links may support Debbie Photos at no additional cost to you.
Use RAW, Especially During the Darkest Stage
RAW files provide much more flexibility than JPEG when eclipse brightness and color change quickly.
That additional information can help with:
- Shadow recovery
- Highlight control
- White balance
- Noise reduction
- Contrast
- Color refinement
- Sharpening
Don’t use RAW as an excuse to ignore in-camera exposure.
Starting with a sharp, well-exposed file will always give you more editing flexibility than trying to rescue a severely underexposed or blurred photograph later.
Build an Eclipse Sequence
A single close-up can be beautiful, but an eclipse sequence tells the entire story.
Photograph the Moon at regular intervals, every five, ten, or fifteen minutes depending on the length of the event.
Maintain consistent framing when practical and avoid changing white balance unnecessarily.
Your exposure will need to evolve as the Moon darkens.
Leave enough space if you intend to combine several lunar positions into one final composition.
For a detailed guide specific to the upcoming event, please read Best Camera Settings for the August 27 Lunar Eclipse.
Photographing primarily with a phone? Please check out How to Photograph the August 27 Lunar Eclipse With an iPhone instead.
Try More Than the Obvious Moon Close-Up
Once you’ve captured your primary eclipse frames, look for a second kind of photograph.
Place the Moon above architecture.
Use tree branches as a natural frame.
Photograph reflections when conditions allow.
Include people observing the eclipse.
Create a silhouette.
Experiment with a wider night landscape.
Capturing the surrounding atmosphere can make the final series feel much more complete.
For additional inspiration beyond lunar photography, please check out Creative Night Photography Ideas. It can help you find ways to incorporate light, silhouettes, movement, reflections, and environmental elements once you have secured the essential eclipse photographs.
Lunar Eclipse Photography Settings Cheat Sheet
Bright Moon
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/8
Shutter: 1/250 to 1/500 sec
Early Partial Eclipse
ISO: 100 to 400
Aperture: f/8
Shutter: 1/60 to 1/250 sec
Deep Partial Eclipse
ISO: 400 to 1600
Aperture: f/5.6 to f/8
Shutter: 1/15 to 1/60 sec
Very Deep Eclipse or Totality
ISO: 800 to 3200
Aperture: f/4 to f/5.6
Shutter: 1/4 to 1/30 sec
Keep These Settings Consistent
File type: RAW
Mode: Manual
Focus: Manual after precise focusing
White balance: Fixed setting rather than constantly changing Auto WB
Tripod: Recommended
Bracketing: Useful during high-contrast stages
The 10-Second Eclipse Exposure Check
After every major change in eclipse brightness, ask:
Is the bright portion losing crater detail?
Use less exposure.
Is the shadow empty?
Add exposure.
Does the Moon look soft?
Use a faster shutter speed and compensate elsewhere.
Has autofocus started hunting?
Return to manual focus.
Are you changing settings without knowing why?
Stop and identify whether the problem is brightness, motion, focus, or noise first.
That final habit may be the most important item on this entire lunar eclipse photography settings cheat sheet.
An eclipse changes continuously, but your adjustments should remain deliberate.
Start with a sensible exposure. Examine the Moon closely. Protect detail while it is bright, let the file darken naturally as Earth’s shadow advances, and prioritize sharpness when the available light drops dramatically.
No single exposure can cover every stage.
Once you begin treating lunar eclipse photography as a series of changing exposure problems rather than searching for one perfect setting, photographing the event becomes considerably easier.
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