Earlier this month, a
A total lunar eclipse could be seen all over the planet.
And the U.S. was ideally positioned to witness the finest part of this amazing event early on March 13.
Over several hours, stargazers
watched in awe
As the moon’s shadow gradually moved over the lunar landscape, transforming our closest heavenly body into a deep crimson hue.
Billy Buchanan (
Narcoleptic Nightscapes
) managed to capture not only a stunning total lunar eclipse sequence but also a rare moonbow, from Cumberland Falls State Park in Corbin, Kentucky. “This is definitely the first time I’ve tried something like this, but will not be the last,” Buchanan told SANGGRALOKAan email.
What is a moonbow?
A moonbow, also known as a lunar rainbow, is an uncommon sight that happens when light from the Moon is bent, mirrored, and spread out by water droplets floating in the atmosphere, similar to how a regular daylight rainbow forms.
Since moonlight is significantly dimmer compared to sunlight, moonbows typically appear white or extremely pale in color. They are most visible on clear, dark nights when
the moon
is vivid—usually occurring close to a full moon. In contrast to daylight rainbows, photographing moonbows necessitates using longer exposure times.
reveal their full spectrum
of hues to the human vision.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing.
The last picture demanded both careful preparation and post-processing work, along with persistence, a touch of fortune regarding the climate, and quite a bit of physical effort!
“I want to recognize and express my gratitude to Mike Shaw and Glenn Randall for assisting me in refining and developing a more critical perspective on what it would take to make this happen and which potential obstacles could sabotage the concept,” Buchanan stated to SANGGRALOKA.
Even though the weather prediction indicated clear skies from March 13 to March 14, Buchanan encountered a wind advisory with hail warnings approximately 20 miles away from his selected photo location.
“When the rain began pouring down, I was already struggling with all my equipment towards the location where I intended to set everything up. In total, I was hauling around 135 pounds of gear, including creature comforts and essentials. Among this weight was 40 pounds dedicated solely to the tripods, which included additional counterweights ensuring stability for the panoramic camera setup,” Buchanan explained.
The cloud cover to the north lasted for some time, delaying Buchanan and preventing him from achieving his original concept of a blue-hour foreground photograph.
Capturing the ultimate moonshot
To create this breathtaking panoramic shot of the total eclipse
lunar eclipse
and moonbow, Buchanan utilized one
Nikon Z9
A camera equipped with a 20mm wide-angle lens along with a specialized panoramic tripod attachment to merge several photos into one. The end result is an amalgamation of various exposure settings used individually for the sky, the foreground, and the moon.
For capturing the night sky, Buchanan employed a brief exposure time of 10 seconds to capture the stars without blurring the landscape. In contrast, he had to use significantly longer exposures—up to two minutes—to properly illuminate the intricate elements within the scene at the front. As for the moon, varying conditions necessitated adjustments; prior to total coverage, he set the ISO to 200 to manage glare, but switched to an ISO of 800 during full eclipse to ensure optimal lighting balance.
Since the moon traversed the sky during the night, Buchanan informed us that he needed to meticulously combine several photographs to form its trajectory in the concluding panoramic view. Certain lunar shots were replicated and subtly altered to preserve the seamless sequence.
The process included combining the images with the help of special software called PTGui, tweaking the brightness and hues to align various parts of the sky seamlessly, and minimizing noise for better sharpness.
Buchanan doubted whether he could depict this scene as he had originally imagined.
Buchanan explained, “To include the moonbow in my composition, I realized I had to employ a panoramic technique. However, merging the exposure settings for the moon with this method was challenging because capturing both the details of the moon without overexposing the rest of the scene required careful consideration.”
At first, I thought about taking a panoramic shot at every level and then combining all these stitched panoramas to hide the moons,” Buchanan went on. “But even with all the people walking around, using flashlights, and holding phones with glowing screens, I soon realized this approach wouldn’t work. Therefore, I changed tactics and decided to capture the foreground, sky, and moons individually before merging them into one image.
Ultimately, this approach was exceptionally successful, enabling Buchanan to produce an image surpassing his initial expectations. He remarked, “The moment I viewed the preliminary version with the moons integrated into the sky sections and the panorama pieced together, I realized immediately that it exceeded my original plans.”
The differing sizes of the two arcs effectively symbolize the vast contrast between human experiences and our interactions within this world.
Earth
“And the immense size and magnificence of Sanggraloka and our nearest neighbor,” Buchanan said.
Editor’s Note:
Should you capture a stunning image of the nocturnal heavens and wish to feature it for SANGGRALOKA’s audience, please forward your photograph(s), along with any thoughts or remarks and your full name and place of residence, directly to SANGGRALOKAphotos@SANGGRALOKA.