Lunar Eclipse tonight

[TonyW]

Get your cameras out and see if you can't get a shot of the lunar eclipse tonight. Visible in many parts of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse

Some tips on photographing lunar eclipses here:

http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/LEphoto.html

The weather forecast isn't too encouraging here - hope some of you will be more fortunate and post those pictures.

Tony

[Byron Gale]

Tony,

I found THIS (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html) page about it.

Being on the West coast, the whole even will be happening during daylight, for me. I don't know that I recall ever seeing a daytime lunar eclipse.

I will keep my eye out for it... thanks!

Byron

edit: HERE (http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/image1/LE2007Mar03-Fig1.GIF) is a GIF which shows a world map with respective viewing and technical data.

[virgo1]

We will have to get out of town and find a hill top or lake with an unobstructed east northeast view. By then it will be too damn cold out and it won't be dark enough to see much. The forecast doesn't look promising.
Eva;)

[kimi_boo]

I put a post it note on the counter so I wouldn't forget to look. :D I think the newspaper said we should be able to see the very end. That's if the clouds go away. :o

[NMarti]

Not looking good here either. Supposed to be cloudy and maybe even some scattered snow.

[kimi_boo]

OK... going outside in the cold waiting to see if the clouds clear. :eek: :D This is having fun right?

[dsfisher421]

I'm afraid we have a lovely cloud cover with sprinkles here in 'sunny' Florida.

[TonyW]

Well it was a real bust here too :mad: . Clouded over and even started to snow just before the big event. Oh well just have to wait until the next one in August. But I did see it on BBC TV :D

Tony

[mommamiax3]

I was ready for this, but darn it's cloudy tonight in SW FL. I think I read the next one is August 28th...around there, I'll be ready!~ :D

Hope to see some great shots!

Ange

[NMarti]

Well they're telling us the cloud cover should clear......just in time to miss it!:cool:

[jo]

I kept the shade up on one of my windows and kept looking out. I was so excited! I thought I could see the moon! But when I opened the door to take my camera outside I realized that it was a streetlight -- cloud cover blocked the moon and the stars. :o Oh, well, I had some practice setting up for manual moon shots... :rolleyes:

[Rusty]

It was great here... clear, starry night ... good view of the moon.
But, it was too darned cold to screw around with a tripod plus, I would have had to hack thru more than a foot of frozen, crusted snow for a place to put the tripod.

I tried some hand-helds. :p Shouldn't have wasted my time.
Maybe the next one will come in the summertime :)

Rusty

[kimi_boo]

First let me say... I have come to the crushing conclusion, that I am a horrible photographer. :eek: None of my images are nice and crisp like I think the moon should have been? Can some science person explain the moon reflection? I wish I would have thought to ask about set up. :o

Here is the first one.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1OuTqIs38iY8uDN2zJ1lXcZRJMFjrE

And on this one... an airplane was nice enough to fly by as my shutter was open.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1fyKJt9Z8j7pnzLLzmVWgATxb7S7U

[Cmcburnett]

Shoot, I forget about it.:( We had clear skies, it would have be great to see even if I didn't get to take pictures. Oh well, I'm looking at a full moon tonight over my computer and hopefully if all goes to plan I will be on the beach tomorrow in South GA looking at a full moon over the ocean. I don't have an SLR camera any more, so don't how good photos would have been anyway.

[jo]

I'm seeing the moon now through a thin cloud cover. I missed the eclipse. But the cloud cover makes it look pretty fuzzy -- not worth going out to set up the tripod and play.

[kimi_boo]

First let me say... I have come to the crushing conclusion, that I am a horrible photographer. :eek: None of my images are nice and crisp like I think the moon should have been? Can some science person explain the moon reflection? I wish I would have thought to ask about set up. :o

Here is the first one.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1OuTqIs38iY8uDN2zJ1lXcZRJMFjrE

And on this one... an airplane was nice enough to fly by as my shutter was open.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1fyKJt9Z8j7pnzLLzmVWgATxb7S7U

Can I just say... it was to hazy for me to get a clear picture? ;) :o

[chas3stix]

I feel cheated....:( The lunar event was over before the moon rose....
Maybe I'll get luckey on the next one.
Chas

[msbrad]

There was no way. Rain and cold here.
m

[chas3stix]

Bummer,
Clear bluebird skies here but no eclipse....:(
Chas

[kroberts]

We got to see the eclipse! I posted some shots in my gallery.:)

[kimh]

No cooperation here with the weather.
Kimi--that wasn't a bad try! (Minus the plane:) )
KimR. Nice images.
Kimh

[TonyW]

Congrats to those who managed to get pictures - I just got one fleeting glance of the moon right at the end of the eclipse for not even long enough to point the camera but at least I can say I saw it :) Just have to wait until August.

Tony

[kroberts]

Tony,

Thanks for the reminder yesterday morning of the eclipse. A friend at work had mentioned it, but then I'd forgotten it. I didn't get a chance to look at the link of the photography tips until this morning, but have bookmarked it for August.

This is the view from my front door this morning (with the weather forecast saying "a slight chance of snow"), so I'm glad the eclipse was last night!:eek:
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/10gQnL7uMGh39ZH0eoX2j3NT9hp25_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=10gQnL7uMGh39ZH0eoX2j3NT9hp25)

[TonyW]

Kim: that looks just like the view from my front door this morning too :) . Whatever happened to spring :( .

Tony

[kroberts]

First let me say... I have come to the crushing conclusion, that I am a horrible photographer. None of my images are nice and crisp like I think the moon should have been? Can some science person explain the moon reflection? I wish I would have thought to ask about set up.

Here is the first one.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1OuTqIs38iY8uDN2zJ1lXcZRJMFjrE

And on this one... an airplane was nice enough to fly by as my shutter was open.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1fyKJt9Z8j7pnzLLzmVWgATxb7S7U

Kimi,
I've just read through this thread, I didn't take the time last night when I posted.

If your shots make you a horrible photographer, then I'm right there with you...I didn't get crisp shots either. I deleted the first shots I took without using the timer on the camera--it looked like we had two moons or an oval-shaped one!:eek: I blamed mine on the wind moving the camera on the tripod.:D

I'd like to know about the reflection, too. Here are some shots with the reflection that I got--the reflection moved!:confused:
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/132fnTe9L95FWXxv3Mh7nEGykT1Qu_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=132fnTe9L95FWXxv3Mh7nEGykT1Qu)

The effect created by the airplane is really cool!

Let's try again in August and be more prepared (and the temperatures will have to be above 32, I hope)!

[EJB]

A couple of images from the East of England:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/EJB986/th_Moon25.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/EJB986/Moon25.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/EJB986/th_Moon5.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v357/EJB986/Moon5.jpg)

Click to enlarge.

[jo]

Terrific! Thanks for posting, Ted!

[kroberts]

Yes, Ted, thanks for posting!

It's fun to see the difference in how the lunar eclipse looked from my backyard in the US compared to yours in East of England!:)

[EJB]

Thanks, Until I saw all the images I didn't realise that we all saw it differently:)

[kimi_boo]

Ted... yours came out great! :D

[TonyW]

Did get a little envious when I saw some of those shots as well as the ones here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/d80/discuss/72157594565908987

Tony

[msbrad]

Ted and KimR, I think y'all did great!
How did you have the camera set, if I may ask.
there was no way here to photograph anything last night.
Just awful.

Today is a gorgeous day! As usual, a day late.

I'd like to get prepared for the next one though.
m

[kroberts]

Did get a little envious when I saw some of those shots as well as the ones here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/d80/discuss/72157594565908987

Tony

Tony,

Thanks for the link! Someone on that site said this:
Well, it was the first time I was shooting moon... it wasn't until the last shot that I realized that I was keeping the exposure too long. So some details of the moon surface are visible only in the last shot.

I had the camera set on auto with manual focus and it was a long exposure (haven't checked to see exactly what). Obviously, the trick is to set the exposure shorter...I'm still trying to figure all of that out!

Now I'm challenged to practice the next few months during the full moon so I can get some crisp shots in August!:o

[kroberts]

Michelle,

Thanks for the comment, I was pleased since it was the first time I'd tried to shoot the moon! Then I saw Ted's clear crisp shots...:o

I used manual focus and set the camera on auto with the flash off. See comments in the post above, I need to work on understanding the manual camera settings!:eek:

[EJB]

Just a couple of comments on my photography, really to show that you can do better:)
I have taken photographs for over 45 years with simple inexpensive cameras.
My last film camera, which I still have, is a Pentax MZ 30 with a Sigma 28-200 lens purchased because I needed the auto focus.
Two years ago I went digital, and not wanting more than one lens and reasonable cost, I have a Lumix DMC-FZ5.
The lens (12x zoom) equates to a 36-432mm, F2.8-F3.3.
It has a large number of automatic modes and about 5 million pixels.
The moon shot...not perfect but reasonable...a spur of the moment shot.
Taken freehhand...hopeless...grab tripod, set to 'night' mode, zoom to about 300mm, press shutter release.
That's it:)
There is no remote shutter release on this camera but, being digital, there is a delay before the shutter activates giving enough time to remove a shaky hand.
I tend to get one or two images out of every hundred that are quite nice;)
Hope I haven't rambled on too much:)

[BonzoDog]

Kimi,
I've just read through this thread, I didn't take the time last night when I posted.

If your shots make you a horrible photographer, then I'm right there with you...I didn't get crisp shots either. I deleted the first shots I took without using the timer on the camera--it looked like we had two moons or an oval-shaped one!:eek: I blamed mine on the wind moving the camera on the tripod.:D

I'd like to know about the reflection, too. Here are some shots with the reflection that I got--the reflection moved!:confused:
http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/132fnTe9L95FWXxv3Mh7nEGykT1Qu_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=132fnTe9L95FWXxv3Mh7nEGykT1Qu)

The effect created by the airplane is really cool!

Let's try again in August and be more prepared (and the temperatures will have to be above 32, I hope)!

I got a few shots which I might post and I too had the reflection which I fixed by covering the eyepiece.
Had to set the exposure manually as the automatic set it much too high.

[kimh]

I've been on a quest for moon shots (I mean 'better' moon shots) than I have previously gotten. The moon was gorgeous last night but got home from work late and well...was just too tired. Maybe tonights full moon will be as pretty. I'll get my camera ready now.
Great moon shots!
Kimh