Phases

February 20. The last total lunar eclipse until 2010. My fiancée even called me at work during the day to remind me. But the morning was gray and cloudy so I figured that it would be moot, as the moon would be obscured. However, the clouds cleared by the early evening (when the eclipse would occur in the Pacific time zone) so I decided I would attempt to shoot the moon.

Because I wouldn't get home in time if I took the train, I decided I'd just stay at the office and find someplace to shoot it from there. However, because I was at the office I got roped into (of all things) working on a minor emergency and missed the entire first half of the eclipse.

I went down to street level, walked a block to the north and found a place where I could set up my mini-tripod with a clear view of the moon, and took about 75 shots in under half an hour.

A little under two months later I finally got around to doing some software manipulation (although not much) of the shots, and below are seven of those that turned out less than awful. Enjoy.

7:43 pm, F/4, 1 sec., 72 mm.

7:45 pm, F/3.5, 1 sec., 72 mm

7:47 pm, F/3.5, 1/2 sec., 72 mm

7:49 pm, F/3.5, 1/2 sec., 72 mm (in the lower left a star is visible)

7:50 pm, F/3.5, .8 sec., 72 mm (still including that star)

7:55 pm, F/3.5, 1 sec., 72 mm

7:59 pm, F/3.5, .8 sec., 72 mm


After this I gave up, in part because the clouds were rolling in and starting to obscure the moon's features, and in part because the edge of the moon that was starting to be exposed to full sun was so much brighter than the rest of the moon that I couldn't find an exposure that could get detail on both parts. (I could get some detail but the right edge was blinding, or the right edge was not too bright but the rest was dark.)

I hope my candor is appreciated. With any luck, by 2010 I will either know how to shoot it better or simply know better than to bother trying.