Ok, with a full lunar eclipse coming up on February 20 it is time for all who know how to chime in and let the rest of us know the best way to try and get some decent shots of this event, assuming clear sky!

 

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html 

 

Got any suggestions?

 

My longest lens is limited to F/4 and that will do but even at 300 mm I am getting only 6x magnification.  That might be a good thing since if you have seen celestial objects even through perhaps 40x you know the objects are moving across the view of field.   I suspect 6x will be ok for a decently long shot without much movement showing in the moon.

 

How to expose for the shots of a lunar eclipse?

My tut on using spot metering for exposure shows what happens when the camera is allowed to expose based on black, gray or white colors.  From this, if I had to use the moon for exposure and it was bright, I would likely want to drop the ev back a couple of steps( drop back shutter full stops or do the same with aperture for less light).  However, the moon may appear bright but is not really that bright.  Lowering exposure may not be a good idea at all for these shots.  Likely, this will take some trial shots of the moon around here before the eclipse to get some idea of exposures to use.  Whatever, this will need a tripod and likely longer exposure and higher ISO than normal, especially when the eclipse is nearing full.

 

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/tutorial/index.php?tutorial_id=1670

 

Got suggestions? Please post for all of us here who might be able to get a shot or two.

 

Thanks,     Tomdart.

Knowing me, I will shoot it manually in the first place.

In GB, you will need to be out near 3AM..well, just returning from the pub perhaps.

Attached Link: Moon Photos

Here is a link that may be helpful. These too perhaps: http://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2710136 http://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2664147 and another link to eclipse info: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13feb_lunareclipse.htm?list738998

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

I think it is trial and error to a large extent.

From my experience there is little chance of capturing the partial eclipse as the dynamic range is too high.  For the full eclipse I found 8secs @ F8 iso100 gave me the best pics on the last one.  

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html

Thanks for info, I am thinking if not cloudy to try and have a go myself, but I had no idea what setting to use.

 ecurb - The Devil

This sequence is from last year, taken with a point 'n' shoot (albeit one with a 10x zoom), using shutter priority and various exposures of around 1/100 - 1/640s then combined and tweaked in photoshop.

www.natural-photo.co.uk

"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.  ~Ansel Adams"

Nice ones astro...I believe I saw these when posted previously.  Now, we can hope for clear sky.

I just shot two moon images hand held. These show the wide dynamic range encountered. I spot metered on the moon as best could. Shake is inherent in my hands and handheld shot at 90º overhead.  Clouds were all over the moon at this time but soft enough to see it ok.

The top one in the cloud cover was exposed just to the left of the moon with some of it in the frame.  f/5.6, 400IS, 1/5 sec.

The next one was on the moon and the difference was shutter speed being 1/40.  

That is a pretty wide range considering all.   I must take this into great consideration for the actual moonar exclipse.  

I will try to use 300 mm and likely take a few shots with a shorter exposure and then when the eclipse is going well, much longer exposure.  I will use likely 200ISO at f/5.6 or f/8 with tripod.

Everything you always wanted to know about photographing an eclipse......

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

In youth, we learn....with age, we understand.

What a great resource, thanks Gradient. Thanks for sharing yoru shots too Tom. One more day....

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

Yep super link gradient

just the one problem - 'tis gonna be cloudy here

And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.

Edward Lear
http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html

how to shoot the moon tonight in the UK:

Hire an aircraft,
fly above the clouds,
hope you arent vibrating too much,
take shot,
fly back down again.

:crying:

booooo!

"In every colour, there's the light.
In every stone sleeps a crystal.
Remember the Shaman, when he used to say:
Man is the dream of the Dolphin"

Rich Meadows Photography

You could also pay a visit to the ISS. ;'P Isn't it tomorrow night that we have the eclipse?

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

If cloudy, try some artistic shots...who knows.  Might get a cow over the moon or a witch passing by.

Not to worry...if you miss this one, the next total lunar eclipse is on Dec 21, 2010.....

In youth, we learn....with age, we understand.

 Has anyone considered HDR for these shots?  I can see a real problem of image alignment with long lenses.  Wider angle might work best to avoid movement of the moon in the frame and you still have to be quick with the fingers to reset exposure.

Honestly, I have no clue how to fix photo alignment if messed up for an HDR merge.     Tom

Actually, I do have a clue to fixing alignment but it is time consuming.  I might give HDR a quick try with wider angle at the onset of the eclipse, using EV button to quickly alter shutter speed.  We will see.  At least, if clouds do not obscure everything, I did find a place in my drive to shoot the photos, so I do not have to find a desolate spot at 10PM to do the photos.

If you folks get some decent shots, perhaps we can start a thread to show those and share.      Tom.

For aligning and stacking shots of the moon (and any other sort of astrophotos) I use Registax

www.astronomie.be/registax/

www.natural-photo.co.uk

"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.  ~Ansel Adams"

Attached Link: APOD

Who needs to track? ;'] Get those cameras ready...

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

That's a very interesting image, I've done a few star-trail shots before but it never occurred to me to try the same technique on the moon, lol.
Looks like I'm not going to get the chance either as the weather here in the UK is decidedly cloudy. :sad:

www.natural-photo.co.uk

"Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.  ~Ansel Adams"

Attached Link: Shadow & Substance

Just to go over the top, animations of the eclipse tonight showing the timing. It is forecast to be cloudy, I hope conditions improve. :o|

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

Thanks Astro for the link and Kort for the animation with times.  If also looks like my only shots may be the little cardboard shawod moving over the moon I have bugged them with at work the last couple of days.  

I am hoping for a break in the cloud cover.  We have had openings with the moon showing just fine through the rest for two days...tonight it is pretty cloudy but a few hours to go.  Oh well,  we will see.

Shot this with my FZ50 last night (full sized crop-no postwork). Most of my shots came out blurry, I was operating the release by hand. A half-hearted effort, but I thought I would share the 'best' of the lot. I would have liked to make a night of it but had other obligations. I'll just have to wait a few years I guess and maybe I'll get the whole sequence next time...with a better camera. ;'P

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

we had a nice little overcast with freezing rain...
Looks like I'm waiting for the next one.

 facebook.com/scoleman123

Bummer. :'[

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations

I will post a couple..you think blur, mine are worse even using every precaution against any motion.  We had about a 20 min. window with clouds coming in and out and I believe atmospheric distortion was the culprit in most of my shots..most of the time Saturn and Regulus were not visible to the eye most ot the time..that was the moving cloud misty stuff covering up the view.   

I will get some together and post here, blur or not...with the moon looking about like Mars might look through my 50 year old Edmund Scientific 4" reflector, but larger.

These very blurry images were shot shot with messy, actively changing  sky...I thought not a single chance of getting any shots at all and had my tele put away. These were done with 200mm.  All shot at 400ISO, f/5.6.  Times given with each image.

This first one is the first shot taken while the moon was in light cloud cover.  2 sec exp.

This one was shot some minutes later, moon only visible to the eye. Exposure of 2.5 sec.

This has Saturn and the star Regulus in the shot.  Exposure to show these other bodies was 6 seconds. 

Also, the moon is being eclipsed by a tree branch as well as earth shadow.  : )

I missed it. it was cloudly where I lived and rain heavy today. i happy to see some one got the shot. wonderful. Yes I know I can go and look at what  the big telescope goverment people did but I like what normal people do with they cameras. It more a goal they overcame

what you see is not what you know; it in your face

Thanks from all, Jocko.

Thanks for sharing those Tom. I tried to get one like your last one there (my favorite) and this is what I ended up with. You can see the motion blur caused by my pressing the shutter release.

Kort Kramer - Kramer Kreations