Friday, October 10, 2014

Photographing the October 2014 Lunar Eclipse






Moon chasing in the early morning hours

Anticipating a long photo shoot, I decided to forgo the initial Penumbral eclipse when part of the Earth's shadow begins to move over the moon. This phase is not easily seen by the naked eye and I was not certain if it would show up with my Nikon 500mm 4.0 lens.

Getting set up at 02:39 PDT, by the time I had my shutter speed on 1/1600 a second, and the aperture at f/5.6, the Earth's umbra was already starting to cover a quarter of the moon, the Partial eclipse had begun.

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At 03:05 PDT, the eclipse was becoming more visible with the Earth's shadow moving over the left top three quarters of the moon. 


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In my opinion, one of the most beautiful images of the moon is when just a small crescent is in view as it was at 03:32.  I composed the dim moon with a shutter speed of 1/400 a second. 


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At 03:54 the Earth's umbra was completely covering the moon.  Due to the sunlight refracting, the moon's orb was taking on reddish to orange hues, therefore becoming the Blood or Sanguine Moon.  My shutter speed had dropped down to 1/10 a second.  


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The Maximum eclipse which is the middle of the total eclipse started around 04:07, with a shutter speed of 0.4 seconds, in the low light several stars and Uranus are visible in the dark sky with the red moon. 


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Around 04:25, the Earth's umbra started moving away allowing a small semi-circle of the Moon's surface to receive sunlight.  


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Another ten minutes at 04:34 more of the Hunter's Moon was receiving light and my shutter speed was increasing to 1/5 a second.


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The Earth's shadow completely unveiled the Moon's surface around 0:458, ending the Partial eclipse and bringing my shutter speed up to 1/800 a second. 


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And what a special treat on this October day for the full moon to make an encore in the early evening following the total lunar eclipse in the pre-dawn hours.


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Thank goodness my next celestial event will occur during the daylight hours on October 23rd, which will be the partial solar eclipse and I am hoping for clear, calm weather as I begin my early preparations.





What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been.  I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences. 

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Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.


 "Reflecting Nature's Artistry" 




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