Tag Archives: lunar eclipse

Super Blood Wolf Moon – Total Lunar Eclipse

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Last night was the “Super Blood Wolf Moon” total lunar eclipse, so named because the Moon is currently closer to the Earth (super), it was a total eclipse (blood), in January (wolf).  By the way, my favorite full moon name is “Worm Moon” in March.  I think that would make a great story title.

We just had a cold front come through, so it was cold, but perfectly clear.  This was definitely the best and longest lunar eclipse I have ever seen, and the delightful enthusiasm from my young neighbors across the street added to my enjoyment.

I considered trying to use my intervalometer to make a detailed time lapse, but I knew I’d want to play around with camera settings too much.  So I used a sequence of shots to make a time lapse slideshow.

The full Moon is basically lit like daylight.

fullmoon20190120

Camera geek info:

  •            Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/5.6, 1/800 second exposure, ISO 100
  •            Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens, set at 300 mm, manual focus
  •            Tripod
  •            Cable release

When the Moon was mostly eclipsed, it started to turn red.  I could either set the camera to get the detail of the lit side (and lose all the part in shadow), or set it for the shadow.  I thought the shadow picture was more interesting.

eclipsingmoon20190120

Camera geek info:

  •            Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/5.6, 1 second exposure, ISO 100
  •            Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens, set at 300 mm, manual focus
  •            Tripod
  •            Cable release

When the Moon was fully eclipsed, it was dark red.  The camera picked up more color with a longer time exposure.  It was harder to focus, though, since the Moon was so dim.

totallunareclipse20190120

Camera geek info:

  •            Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/5.6, 2 second exposure, ISO 100
  •            Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens, set at 300 mm, manual focus
  •            Tripod
  •            Cable release

When the Moon was coming out of the eclipse, dew had started to settle on the camera lens, so I got an interesting effect before I went inside to warm up my cold camera. And myself.

uneclipsingmoonwithdew

Camera geek info:

  •            Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/5.6, 1 second exposure, ISO 100
  •            Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens, set at 300 mm, manual focus
  •            Tripod
  •            Cable release

SuperBlueBloodMoon

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SuperBlueBloodMoon:

  •             Super: the moon is closer to the Earth and so visually larger
  •             Blue: the second full moon in the month, nothing to do with color
  •             Blood: a total eclipse turns the moon a reddish color
  •             Moon: the Earth’s natural satellite!

I should have gotten up earlier and driven to my favorite spot with a good view to the west. But I didn’t, so I found a spot in the neighborhood to snap a few pictures before the moon set below the tree line.

LunarEclipse20180131-1

Camera geek info:

  •             Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/30 second exposure, ISO 800
  •             Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM lens, set at 145 mm, manual focus on moon
  •             Tripod

 

Here I focused on the foliage instead of the moon and played around with color in post-processing. Which do you like better: the natural color or the more saturated color?

LunarEclipse20180131-2LunarEclipse20180131-3

Camera geek info:

  •             Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/4, 1/30 second exposure, ISO 800
  •             Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM lens, set at 200 mm, manual focus on foliage
  •             Tripod

Tri-Color Moon

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On October 8, I got up early to observe and photograph the lunar eclipse. These two shots were my favorites.

The blue glow effect in this first shot is the result of a mistake – I wasn’t using a lens hood to prevent internal reflection. So it’s wrong, but I think it looks kinda cool, like a rocket has taken off from the lunar surface and left a trail behind, or the moon is sporting a tail like a comet, or a lunar volcano is venting … my imagination smiles at all the possible explanations. What do you think it looks like?

LunarEclipse1-20141008

This second shot shows a tri-color moon – the red “blood” eclipsed moon, a central gray band, and the still-sunlit white moon. So different from the normal, stark black and white moon. What would it be like to have a multicolored satellite?

LunarEclipse2-20141008