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melev

Tonight's Lunar Eclipse

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10 Comments
by
melev
, 12-21-2010 at 02:49 AM (3214 Views)
It appears to be a rare event when we get a full lunar eclipse this time of year, according to this news story:
http://news.lalate.com/2010/12/20/lu...stice-history/

So I was ready to see this event in person, since it could be hundreds of years before it comes around again. heh And I did what I could with my camera, which wasn't cooperating like I'd hoped. I ended up using my 35mm f/1.8 lens, a remote trigger, set the ISO to 3200, and varied the time from 1/6 of a second to 1/3200 of a second. It took some guesswork and about 70 images but I liked these the best.

12:14am


1:08am


1:16am


2:02am


2:05am


2:11am


With the moon blocked out, the orange hue was obvious. And all the stars came out because of the lack of moonlight to wash out the sky. I have a telescope that I pull out about once a year, but I really need to get with some astronomy peoples to learn how to use the darn thing. It's pretty frustrating to use, especially when you don't have a lot of time to target the subject like tonight.

This eclipse was predicted to last 76 minutes. It still in progress at the moment. Temperature is 60F but feels colder, somewhat windy, and we have some light clouds in the sky.

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‎ Photography/Video

Comments

  1. slallen's Avatar
    Nice! I had the same setting issues when i last shot the moon. The trouble is a mind set of it is dark, need the fastest lens we can get, and the slowest shutter speed possible. In reality it would be like taking pictures of the sun at night.

    What I found when researching and what worked for me were the following settings. Set your ISO to 100 if you have a Canon DSLR and to 200 if you have a Nikon DSLR. Set your aperture to f/11. Set your shutter speed to 1/125 on cameras with base ISO 100, and to 1/250 on Nikon DSLRs with base ISO 200. You will be surprised at the results.
  2. Jnarowe's Avatar
    Very nice Marc. I was pretty upset since it was cloudy here. Great shots and I am glad to see it vicarioulsy!
  3. melev's Avatar
    Thanks Steve. I'll have to try those settings again in the next night or two simply to practice and get that memorized. I did late night photography with Jessy during the MACNA trip, but couldn't remember everything.

    Btw, these images are basically right out of the camera. I cropped a couple of them, but didn't enhance them in any way.
  4. Konadog's Avatar
    Nice pic's Marc. It's been raining for the last week here so between the rain drops, all I could see was gray
  5. slallen's Avatar
    They are great. Just noted the settings you said you were using. I certainly have been there. I saw the pic you took with Jessy and they were also great. For the star shots you will want a longer exposure and an open aperture (lower f stop). The moon is a different story since it is so bright. I wish it had not been cloudy in my area. Again great shots!
  6. fishtal's Avatar
    Nice Marc! I was only able to see a little at the beginning before it got too cloudy.
  7. Alaska_Phil's Avatar
    I was outside working on the house last night and completely forgot about it. I was even outside while it was happening.
  8. melev's Avatar
    When the moon was re-appearing, a lot of clouds were blowing in. It was still neat to see.
  9. Trido's Avatar
    I tried real hard to get some pics last night but didnt have my tripod. Nice pics.
  10. melev's Avatar
    A friend of mine on DFWMAS just posted this link with some good suggestions for future lunar photo ops. http://www.digital-photography-schoo...-lunar-eclipse