A Night Under the Full Worm Blood Moon
The traditional nickname for the March full moon is the Worm Moon, so named because it occurs at the time of year when earthworms emerge in temperate climates. Blood Moon is a popular term for a total lunar eclipse, when the Moon appears red due to Earth’s atmospheric filtering. The two events coincided In the early morning hours of March 3, 2026, creating a “Full Worm Blood Moon.” Weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest weren’t optimal, but I was able to photograph most of the event from near Lyle, Washington, along the Columbia River.
The eclipse began soon after midnight with the Moon high in the sky, and it ended shortly before dawn with the Moon near the western horizon. To capture a timelapse video of the entire event, I used a wide angle lens and guessed at the exposure, prioritizing the 58 minutes of totality. The wide field of view made for a small Moon in the image and the fixed exposure resulted in an overexposed Moon before and after totality. If you look closely, you can see the reddish hue of the Blood Moon starting about 20 seconds into the video.
Timelapse video of the March 2026 total lunar eclipse looking west from near Lyle, Washington, on the north shore of the Columbia River. Actual time elapsed was about 5 hours. The fully eclipsed Moon is visible during the middle third of the video. Before and after totality, the illuminated Moon is overexposed behind a thin layer of clouds. Video processed using CapCut PC software.
Composite image of the total lunar eclipse on March 3, 2026, as seen from near Lyle, Washington. Scale and geometry are not realistic. Foreground image: Nikon Z8 body, NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S lens at 14 mm. Moon images: Nikon Z 8 with NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 600 mm and Nikon Z TELECONVERTER TC-1.4x (effective focal length 840 mm). Created using Adobe Photoshop and Topaz Photo AI software.
