The wait was definitely worth it
When I found out that the Super Blue Blood Moon was happening (and that it is visible here in the Philippines), I knew that I had to shoot it. Which is why the day before, I prepared my gear and did a few test shots of the moon.
As the afternoon of January 31 came, I and my sister went to the PAG-ASA Astronomical Observatory in UP Diliman at around 6PM. During that time, the area was slowly becoming full of people. Finding a spot was not that hard, thanks to TechPatrl’s Matthew Cuyugan, who is an astronomy student and is there to assist people like me in witnessing this rare phenomenon.
After I found my spot at the grassy fields of the PAG-ASA Astronomical Observatory, I proceeded to set up my gear, which consisted of a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV DSLR , a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 HSM II telephoto lens, and an old-but-trusty Velbon Sherpa 600R Tripod. On certain times, I would switch my to film camera, a Canon EOS 620 and a Canon 85mm 2.8 USM lens. Since the EOS 620 uses the same EF mount (on top of being one of the first EOS SLRs out there), I get to use my film SLR with my telephoto lens).
At first, we were worried, as clouds were covering the moon at around 6:17PM. I was not worried at first since it was the same scenario the night before, where the clouds would clear up after a few minutes:
My speculation was correct: after several minutes, the clouds cleared out, and at around 6:54PM, the moon started to appear in its full glory.
At around 7:59PM, the eclipse has begun, slowly covering the moon:
The peak of the crowd occurred at around 8:20PM, just in time for them to witness the Blood Moon:
The magic moment started to occur at around 8:49PM, when the moon started to appear red-orange:
At around 9:32PM, the moon has become blood red in color, and the crowd was beyond amazed at witnessing this rare phenomenon:
At around 10:16PM, another eclipse occurs, this time with a bright white light crossing through the blood red moon:
At around 10:53PM, the moon’s reddish color is gone, but is not yet fully visible due to the eclipse:
At 11:27PM, the moon has returned to its normal color:
Here’s the composite I made compiling the different looks of the moon, from 6:54PM to 11:27PM:
Were you able to take good photos of the Super Blue Blood Moon? Share your photos below!
