Out of sheer cussedness I just took a look (45 mins before start of total eclipse). The earth's shadow is quite apparent at this point but the sky behind it is

Out of sheer cussedness I just took a look (45 mins before start of total eclipse). The earth's shadow is quite apparent at this point but the sky behind it is already quite pale. So I great that once the "bite" is complete the contrast to a normal full moon will be obscured.