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Imagine standing on a frozen lake in the remote Alaskan Arctic, surrounded by absolute silence. The Moon slowly turns a deep red, and the sky above erupts in swirling, vibrant auroras. It sounds like something out of a dream, doesn’t it? But it’s not. For Dan Zafra of Capture the Atlas, this was a reality during a recent lunar eclipse. Not only was it real, but he also captured it in spectacular photos, which he kindly shared with us.
Aurora and Lunar Eclipse: A Cosmic Alignment Too Rare to Miss
You probably already know Dan – he’s the man behind Capture the Atlas magazine and two spectacular photography contests: Milky Way Photographer of the Year and Northern Lights Photographer of the Year. So, when he thought of a total lunar eclipse and an aurora storm happening simultaneously, he just couldn’t let himself miss it.
Dan tells DIYP that the odds of the alignment were slim, but the potential for an extraordinary image was too great to pass up. So, he packed his bags and his gear and left behind the bright lights of Las Vegas, heading deep into the Alaskan Arctic. After all, for astrophotography, you need as dark skies as possible.
The Gear: Three Cameras, One Mission
To capture the event in all its breathtaking detail, Dan used a three-camera setup, each serving a distinct purpose:
- A 400mm telephoto lens on a Benro Polaris star tracker – This was the key to bracketing three exposures for the Moon, stars, and aurora.
- A 20mm wide-angle lens – This lens framed the eclipse and aurora together, adding the stunning Arctic landscape for context.
- A wide-angle timelapse setup – This documented the entire sequence as it unfolded, capturing the evolving dance of light in the sky.
Each setup had to be managed carefully in extreme cold, where even the smallest mistake could mean missing the moment entirely. This was just one of the challenges Dan had to tackle, which leads us to the next part of the story.
The Challenges of Capturing the Aurora and the Lunar Eclipse
Other than finding the dark enough spot and using the proper gear, astrophotography is also about problem-solving, adapting, and, in this case, freezing. With temperatures dropping to -20°F (-29°C), handling metal tripods and delicate camera controls became a challenge of its own. Heck, I felt cold just reading this info about Dan’s aurora + lunar eclipse quest! But he was actually in that cold, and his batteries were draining faster, frost built up on lenses, and fingers? Well, let’s just say they stopped cooperating after a while.
But the cold wasn’t the only challenge. One of the stars of the show – the aurora itself – was tricky as well. While the lunar eclipse followed a predictable timeline, the northern lights had a mind of their own. Dan had carefully framed a timelapse, expecting the aurora to hover at a certain height. But nature had other plans. “At one point, I realized my timelapse composition was all wrong,” Dan tells DIYP. “The aurora had climbed way higher in the sky than expected.” He had to carefully reposition the camera mid-sequence, all while keeping his other setups running.
The Moment of Awe
“As totality began, I felt the landscape dim around me, as if someone had slowly dialed down the brightness of the world,” Dan recalls the moment that made everything worth it. “The aurora, however, did the opposite—it grew stronger, more vibrant, as if responding to the darkened Moon.”
“For a moment, I stopped adjusting cameras, stopped worrying about settings, and just took it in. This wasn’t just a photo opportunity—it was a front-row seat to one of nature’s rarest performances.
After totality ended, the transformation was just as surreal. The Moon’s glow gradually returned, illuminating the landscape again, and the aurora began to fade. It was as if someone had flipped the lights back on.”
© Dan Zafra
Out of the countless images Dan captured that night, one stood out above the rest: a telephoto close-up of the lunar eclipse, surrounded by ethereal aurora. It’s my favorite shot of the series as well.
“Wide-angle shots are my usual style, but this felt different—more intimate, more unique,” Dan tells us. “I’ve seen a few other shots of this event from northern Canada and Alaska, but none that capture this level of detail in a close-up.”
© Dan Zafra
“Chasing the perfect shot often means long nights, frozen fingers, and plenty of challenges. But moments like these? They make every struggle worthwhile,” Dan concludes. “Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat!”