Did y'all get a chance to see the lunar eclipse on Sunday night? John and I bundled up, sat on the deck and eagerly waited for moonrise. I had set up Canon's tripod and the shutter remote and was Googling f stops and iso settings specific to photographing the moon. There were oodles of online articles assuring readers that if blah blah blah blah, then the results would be fantastic. So I dutifully adjusted Canon's settings and waited.
Dusk fell. What a beautiful evening.
Eagle eye John spotted it first and I began snapping eclipse photos away like mad. But to my horror, every photo was completely black. No beautiful moon. Nada.
Drat.
I frantically checked to see if I had left the lens cap on, but nope. Not the problem. So I began experimenting with various changes to everything that I could think of on poor Canon. I have absolutely no idea what I did, but gee whiz. SOMETHING worked.
Oh, my. I wasn't prepared for how magnificent it all was. And all too soon, the glorious blood moon was gone.
I had planned on taking more photos as the moon's face reappeared, but it was getting seriously cold out there on the deck, even though I had put on three layers of sweatshirts. So I grabbed my gear and headed indoors.
Such a fantastic experience; and I'm thrilled with the photos. But in all honesty, I have absolutely no idea how I got them. I wish I knew what settings I actually used. I'm going to go back to review those articles that promised perfect photos with their suggested settings. Pffffftttt.
I'm such a lucky duck.
3 comments:
Your pictures are magnificent! I was so disappointed because it was cloudy where I live and there wasn't even a glimmer of night sky :( I'm so glad you took these pictures and shared them with us, they're the first I've seen! Thank you!!
Great shots and thanks so much for sharing. We had a great view in Wyoming - cloud coverage cleared just as it all started. I do not possess a great camera or any skills so I am enjoying your shots.
Your comment reminded me of something. Many years ago my brother in law was stationed in Germany and I was lucky enough to go for a visit. He had a fantastic new camera, I had my little 110. We went on an all day tour bus and he shot lots of pictures. This was when we used actual film. At the end of the day he realized he had left his lens cap on the whole day! We were so sad, but now, with the passage of time it has become hilarious!
Gorgeous photos!
If your camera is like mine, you can find out what settings you used. It's in the EXIF data for the files. If you're on Windows, I can tell you how to get it - if it's a Mac, you'll need a Mac expert.
For Windows: Go to the file on your computer, right-click, and select "Properties". Switch to the "Details" tab of the form that pops up and scroll down, and it'll give you - partway down - all the camera info from the camera model, to the F-stop, exposure time, ISO speed, etc., etc.
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