Blood Moon

Last night, there was a blood moon.  In other words, a total eclipse of the moon.  It should have been visible from here.  I was ready, and my camera was ready too.

Results were mixed.  I did, however, learn a few important lessons.

The first lesson was, never try to capture an image of the moon by shooting through a window.

150927a

This first shot was a test.  The double glass left some artifacts around the brilliant full moon.  Also,  to shoot this wide, I need to manually control aperture and shutter settings.

As the eclipse started, it was time to capture the next image.  I did this while standing in an open door.

Second lesson was, don’t hand-hold a tight shot of the moon.

150927b

Not too bad, perhaps.  I did brace against the door frame.  Yet, it could have been better.

The third lesson was, atmospheric conditions can spoil your chances.

150927c

I had setup the tripod and was going to capture that “perfect” image of the blood moon.  It never happened.  Dark clouds were rolling in, obscuring the moon.  After much waiting, I managed to capture the above image, which was only partially cloud shaded.  After that I only caught brief glimpses of bits of the moon.  And then it could no longer be seen from here.

Sic transit gloria.

 

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About Chuck

I am retired after a career in electronics and in publishing. Today, my wife of 50+ years, Sylvia, and I live in a house on a hill beside a dirt road in rural west Michigan. We enjoy living in this country environment where livestock and wild life out number the human population.

8 thoughts on “Blood Moon

  1. We had a clear shot and it was beautiful! I saved the photo op for those with patience…and a tripod. I left my camera and tripod in the closet. Instead, I took in the beauty…and the moment with Joe on the patio. It was really incredible to see.

  2. Be cause of occluded conditions I tried the NASA website– nogo; don’t know what happened. But a break in the clouds gave us a glimpse but no pics.

  3. Well, you did better than I did. Clouds cleared too late here. I got one of those half moon cookies though. Remember them? I liked them. Why does everything remind us of food?

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