Blood Moon

[PRSearls]

Early this morning, we were treated to a lunar eclipse across the United States. It was a tough subject because of the little light reflecting back from the moon's surface. It is called a "blood moon" because of the color of the light. At the peak of the eclipse, a thin sliver of red/orange light rings the earth's surface, basically a sunset all the way around the earth.

We had broken clouds during the peak but afterwards, the sky cleared and I was able to get number of shots. The light was very dim so I needed to shoot at a very slow shutter speed, wide open and max ISO for my 1DsIII. This was the result, at 1/10 second, f/4.0 and ISO 1600. Fortunately, I had a heavy tripod which minimized vibrations.

The bottom of the moon is beginning to come out of the shadow but you can still see how red most of it was. This is my reward for getting up for a couple hours beginning at 1:45 AM. No color enhancement has be done to this image but I did run it through Dfine 2 (noise removal). Notice how dim the top of the moon is at this exposure.

I'll bet astronomy clubs got some grey pictures.

P. Searls

[Donald]

This is my reward for getting up for a couple hours beginning at 1:45 AM.

And very well worth it, Paul, in my opinion.

I've seen a few images of last night's eclipse posted up (we couldn't see it here in the UK) and this, I think, is the best one I've seen. Well done.

ps - Is that Mars right on the top edge of the frame?

[Rita]

Very nice Paul. I stayed up last night to attempt some shots at this. Wouldn't you know it, 5 minutes before the action the clouds rolled in and I couldn't even see the moon

[Mike Buckley]

Terrific image, Paul!

[thegman]

Amazing sight and amazing photograph. Well done Paul.

[rtbaum]

My best attempt, no where as fine as Paul's..........Whadja expect at 3 O'-freakin'-AM

[dedro]

nice image...watched the moon last night with my wife, it was fun. took a few shots but i did not have a tripod or a strong enough lens so they were all bad. these images look awesome though!!

[PRSearls]

I've re-posted this image. This afternoon, I remembered I accidentally ran the noise reduction twice on this image (too sleepy for accurate post-processing). I've also applied a small bit of sharpening. Mars was visible but was directly to the right of the moon and out of the frame. A full moon tonight so I may try and get a few images of a moonrise.

Good job on your shot, Randy. This was a tough subject.

Paul S.

[FootLoose]

Great work, Paul. The eclipse occurred at a much saner hour for us - around sunset - but it was completely rained out.

[chauncey]

You will be hard pressed to do better...stellar image!

[Brownbear]

Beautiful image Paul!

Thank you for sharing. I was hopeful that I could try to capture an image of this moon. I pre-packed my gear, set my camera my alarm for 11:15pm and headed out to try, alas I couldn't see the moon for the clouds.

So it is very nice to be able to view such a beauty. I understand that this even will occur a few more times over the next two years, so next time around I will have benefited from reading your how-to, and a little more luck.

Rita... Hopefully the sky will be clear the next time around. (:

[Rita]

Christina, all we can do is hope and try again

[IzzieK]

Very beautiful Paul...I have my dog to take care of all night and I keep moving my tripod, turned around and heard a thud! My camera fell on the deck. I hope I did not hurt it -- yet. So much for the bloody moon!

[Stagecoach]

Very nice Paul, for us it happened between 7 and 9 in the evening, very sociable time but only managed one reasonable shot between the thick cloud cover and with only a 200mm not too good.

[jamn4ex]

great moon shots guys

[Mike Buckley]

OFF TOPIC

Sorry to learn of your camera incident, Izzie. Perhaps you and I can co-chair the Klutz Klub, as the same thing happened to me years ago though mine fell on a concrete floor. The only damage to mine was to the lens hood. Considering that the floor of your deck is probably a little more forgiving, I won't be surprised to learn that your camera suffered little or no damage.

[ChrisH]

A very nice image Paul. I was unfortunate enough to return from a visit to Cincinnati last week, so missed the eclipse.

[John 2]

Not an area that I have ever bothered with Paul but that's a nice image in anybody's book. Good work.

[AndrewMcD]

I can't imagine it being done any better than what you accomplished! Very impressive image.

Andrew

[deetheturk]

Very nice Paul!