Who is ready for the Lunar eclipse?

[hank1105]

I will be out there with my tripod tonight trying to get a descent shot. Unfortunately my max will be 200mm, which is nothing compared to some of the numbers I have seen you guys post.

I did read a good tip to set the white balance to sunlight and I know there is a website that states a good apeture for moon shots, just don't have it on me right now.

Best of luck to everyone, hopefully we will see some good pics. The skys over NY should be clear.

Hank

[billsh]

I'll be ready if it stops raining. Here in Texas we have rain about 5-6 times a year and it picked this week to come. I'm hoping we will have a break in the clouds tonight so I can snap a few. I've got my 70-200 2.8L and a sigma 400 5.6 ready to go.

Be sure to post your pics for those of us who don't get a chance to shoot.

Good Luck :P

[defordphoto]

"They" are saying we will be able to see it, but we have some clouds hanging over the Cascades that are looking to block our view. I'm not doing anything special. If we see it, we see it. If not, no biggie. It's definitely not my first. Dunno if I'll even photograph it. We'll see.

[dhbailey]

I've been practicing the past few evenings, using my 75-300 IS lens on my 20D, and I've gotten the first good moon shots I've ever taken.

I set the camera to b&w the first night and experimented with various shutter speeds and apertures. Finally set it in Tv mode and took some pictures between 125 and 500 before it got too dark to be a good shot. I was using a tripod with a cable release.

Last night I added the yellow effect in the B&W (having remembered in my dim dark recesses of my brain that was why I had bought the yellow filter for my Sony Mavica, having read that it helped make moon shots more clear), and rather than the cable release I used the self-timer since the tripod I currently have is an old inexpensive one about to die.

A new strong Manfrotto tripod is in the budget in another month or so.

[pcasciola]

It just cleared up here in New Jersey, where it was cloudy most of the day.

We have a bunch of equipment ready to photograph the eclipse. I'm bringing my 20D with 300mm f/4L, a friend is bringing his 2,000mm, 8" SCT telescope, and a couple of other friends are coming with their 10D and a digital rebel. We also just got all the adapters to hook the 20D to the scope, a couple of portable battery packs and a laptop with USB connection to the 20D for taking the pictures through the laptop while it is on the tripod or mounted to the scope.

It should be a lot of fun. I'm just crossing my fingers now that it stays clear until around midnight.

I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of great shots over in the Share Photos section.

[NickC]

...I know there is a website that states a good apeture for moon shots, just don't have it on me right now.


Thing is most of the suggested shooting parameters I've seen are for a big white moon. When the eclipse reaches totality, the moon is going to be red and dark, not white and bright. So we'll have to adjust accordingly.

[Tshoe]

Here is one of the exposure calulators for moon shots

http://www.shaystephens.com/mooncalc.asp

[Tshoe]

Here is another site for moon phases that you can select your area to get the information for.


http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html

[Scottes]

Well I'm glad to see that you folks are prepared, thus allowing me to watch the Red Sox tonight and see all your pics in Share tomorrow.

I won't miss a thing.

:D

[hank1105]

Damn Pcasciola - you guys are definitely organized and seem to have your s**t together. Can't wait to see this pics tomorrow or whenever.

I have to find out what time it will be happening on the East Coast, I thought I read 9:14 PM, have to verify.

Hank

[Tom W]

Hopefully, the clouds won't interfere.

Here's my checklist:

100-400 & 1.4X
IS off for tripod
manual exposure (was AV before edit)
f/11
bracket +/- 1 1/3 stops
spot meter
RAW
Mirror lockup
remote release
ISO 400
Patience

(edit again) - dim the LCD all the way down!

Last night's yield:

http://phototom.fotopic.net/p8632345.html

[robertwgross]

Thin clouds got me.

They were just enough clouds that I could see the moon, but I couldn't get a clean shot at it. <sigh>

---Bob Gross---

[Tom W]

Thin clouds got me.

They were just enough clouds that I could see the moon, but I couldn't get a clean shot at it. <sigh>

---Bob Gross---

Me too - got several shots, but none are very clear. I'll fiddle with processing a bit and see if I can extract something from them.

[robertwgross]

You shouldn't have had any trouble shooting it from Chattanooga.

Isn't Tennessee famous for its moonshine?

---Bob Gross---

[Tom W]

You shouldn't have had any trouble shooting it from Chattanooga.

Isn't Tennessee famous for its moonshine?

---Bob Gross---

:D That's almost illegal!

Besides, all the stills up in the hills have apparently been replaced by meth labs, at least according to the local constables.

PS - this was the best image I got last night:

http://www.ibiblio.org/moonshine/images/moonshin-bw.jpg