How To Photograph a Lunar Eclipse

Introduction
Photographing an eclipse of the Moon is fun and easy. You don't even have to worry about special filters to protect your eyes or your camera. Unlike eclipses of the Sun, eclipses of the Moon are perfectly safe to watch with the naked eye.
A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes through Earth's dark shadow. This can only happen during Full Moon. Although there is a Full Moon every 29 1/2 days, there are only 2 or 3 lunar eclipses a year. That's because the Moon's orbit is tipped 5 degrees to Earth's so the Moon misses Earth's shadow at during most Full Moons. (see: Lunar Eclipses For Beginners)
Watching and photographing an eclipse of the Moon is a relaxing activity since it progresses at a leisurely pace. The eclipse begins as a small notch slowly appears along one edge of the Moon. During the next hour, the Moon gradually dips deeper into Earth's dark umbral shadow. If the eclipse is a total one, the last remaining minutes of the partial phases can be quite dramatic and beautiful. The crescent of the Moon grows thinner as darkness propagates through a night sky now deprived of moonlight. If you're away from city lights, the Milky Way becomes bright and beautiful as the total phase begins. It's quite a remarkable sight.
Cameras
It wasn't very long ago that film was king while digital cameras were low resolution, high-priced gizmos. Today, digital cameras are as common as film cameras if not more so. And 6 to 12 megapixel digital cameras offer image quality to rival or even surpass film.
Lunar eclipses can be captured easily with both film and digital cameras. The simpler point and shoot cameras have a non-interchangable lens with a single focal length. Better models are equipt with a 3x or larger zoom lens. The most versatile (and expensive) cameras are the 35mm SLR (single lens reflex) and its digital counterpart the DSLR (digital single lens reflex) . These cameras allow you to replace the kit lens with any number of other lenses from wide angle to super telephoto. You can even connect an SLR or DSLR directly to a telescope so that the Moon fills the entire frame. No matter what kind of camera you own, one or more of the following techniques can be used be used to shoot a lunar eclipse.