The August 28 eclipse is a deep partial lunar eclipse: at greatest eclipse, almost all of the Moon is within the Earth’s umbral shadow, leaving only a small bright portion uneclipsed. That makes it photographically much closer to a total lunar eclipse than the word “ partial ” might suggest. You can explore the circumstances for your own location using TPE’s Lunar Eclipse Map and Lunar Eclipse Simulator.

What you can photograph depends very strongly on where you are. Across much of the Americas, the Moon is well above the horizon through the main phases of the eclipse. That gives you the straightforward option of photographing the eclipse itself, but it also creates opportunities to combine the deeply eclipsed Moon with landscape or architecture. In New York City, for example, the Moon is relatively high, so a longer focal length and a suitably distant foreground subject can help give it some context.

On the west coast of North America, the timing is particularly convenient. In San Francisco, greatest eclipse occurs during the evening with the Moon still reasonably high, making compositions with the illuminated city skyline possible. In Kauai, Hawaii, the geometry is quite different: the Moon rises already well into the partial eclipse, giving the possibility of an eclipsed moonrise over the ocean.

Across Europe, the eclipse happens towards morning and the Moon becomes increasingly low as the eclipse progresses. That can actually be an advantage photographically. In London, the Moon sets before the partial phase is over, creating opportunities for a partially eclipsed Moon low over the city. Similar possibilities exist on the Atlantic coast of northern Spain and the west coast of Ireland, where the Moon can be photographed setting over the ocean or distant landscape.

There are some less obvious possibilities too. In Rocky Mountain National Park, greatest eclipse occurs during true night, with only a sliver of the Moon remaining directly illuminated. That potentially creates an unusual opportunity to photograph the deeply eclipsed Moon together with the Milky Way – something that would normally be impractical around full Moon.

Farther east, only the earlier phases are visible before moonset, while eastern Asia, Australia and surrounding regions miss the eclipse altogether.

So, rather than thinking only about how much eclipse your location sees, look at where the Moon will be in the sky during the phases you can see. A low eclipsed Moon, a moonrise or moonset, a well-chosen foreground – or even the Milky Way – can offer more interesting photographic possibilities than simply having the entire eclipse visible.