Full Eclipse of the Moon Tonight!!

Joseph Bautsch

New member
There will be a full eclipse of the moon tomorrow morning, at least in the northern hemisphere. In the USA, Atlanta, GA time, it will be around 3:30 am. Anyone planning to do any shooting? My wife and I are taking our grandkids to a Moon Eclipse party north of Atlanta where we will be out of the bright lights of the city to a place called Tellus, GA. They have a very large astronomical observatory there with a large telescope. The eclipse will be displayed on a big screen in the observatory. There is also supposed to be any number of telescopes there from the local Astronomy club. The eclipse should take place with the moon very high in the sky. Hopefully the weather will be clear for viewing. Should be fun.
 

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
Maybe I'll get up tonight and try some things with the tripod. Unfortunately last time I tried to take pics of the moon they didn't come out very good. The only telephoto I have is the 55-200 and it's not as clear as it could be.
 

AxeMan - Rick S.

Senior Member
jdeg, I'm sure you know what your doing, but I put up a picture and a crop I took back in October with my 55-200 I'll include EXIF data, maybe it will give you a starting point to work with. I too was not happy the way mine turned out. The D3000 stinks at higher ISO's after 400. Yes I know I have a couple of hot / stuck pixels.

I was hoping to be out there tonight seeing how I work third shift and it is going to peek during my lunch hour, unfortunately the only thing I'll get to shot tonight is another 2-4 inches of snow here, so the Camera is staying home.

I'm sure someone will be posting the Eclipse can't wait to see the results.

No Photoshop (just the crop)

DSC_3671.jpg

Look familiar?

f/32
1/125 sec
Focal length 200mm
ISO 800

DSC_3671 crop.jpg

The Crop

Moon in Orion's Belt.jpg

Same picture Photoshopped into Orion's Belt and sharpened. So the picture was not a total waste. Hope it turns out good on the low rez upload. Looks neat on my 22" Monitor.

Rick
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
I'll be shooting with a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G Nikkor on a tripod. The eclipse will start around 1:33 am as a partial and finish around 5:00 am. The total eclipse will last about seventy-two minutes. The long time span is because it will be passing through almost the widest part of the earths shadow. The experts say this will be a "red" eclipse because of the high altitude atmospheric dust left over from a number of active volcanos from around the world. This is an winter equinox eclipse that won't happen again for another 450 years. So if you miss this one it will be a long wait for the next one.

Lots of time to experiment with filters, ND, and exposure. It's said that this lens is soft at 300mm. This will also be a chance for me to take some comparative shots at different focal lengths to see just what it can, or can't, do.
 

M.Hinch

Senior Member
Joseph, may I suggest trying a low ISO and no filter and shutter speed on Bulb. Unfortunately I will be sleeping at the time. But that is what I would start with, almost like shooting fireworks. I`m envious of all that will be taking the opportunity to partake in the event. Happy shooting to all.

Michael
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
My camera ISO is set at 200. That's about the standard I always use. I will be using cable release and a number of differing exposures. Thanks for the suggestions.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
My alarm is set for this, but I doubt I'll be able to go outside to take photos. We're expecting some nasty weather this evening.
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
Well, I checked the photographer's ephemeris and the naval observatory charts and found out that the moon (nearly full) would be rising at 4:30 PM today. So I drove part way up a mountain where I thought I would get a good view. Two and-a half hours later, I got a glimpse of it as it came out from behind the clouds (which I neglected to notice because the sunset was so spectacular) I also was aiming in the wrong direction . . . so now, in addition to my headlamps, I'll have to get a compass . . . sigh . . . also had a hard time focusing with the 70-300mm . . . (I guess new glasses.) and with noise (????) in post processing.

I am not a happy photographer tonight and I'm NOT getting up for the eclipse :)

_DSC0045-Edit.jpg

iso 200 300mm f/8 at 1/8
 

Mike150

Senior Member
I spent the early evening getting everything ready to take pictures of the moon. Alas, I spent the rest of the evening looking for the Quick Release Head for my tripod. My wife and I tore the office apart. The tripod was packed away, so the head should have been with it. Needless to say... No moon pictures.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
EOI, Jdeg, really good shots. Unfortunately for me the mission was a flop. Just before the eclipse was to start the cloud cover moved in. It was so heavy that you could not even see the moon much less do any photo work. Darn, I really had high hopes of getting some nice moon shots. Well I guess I'll wait around with Pete for the next one.
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
This was kind of a cool thread! We're all in different parts of the world and were all looking at the same moon for the same reason on the same night. . . nice connection!
 
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