Kodiak Tour Interrupted By A Lunar Eclipse

 I went to bed last night not planning to take any eclipse photos (nothing unique, who cares, lazy, plenty of excuses). I woke up about 1 AM and fought insomnia before giving up about 2. I think it was my mind kicking myself in the rear to get up and take these photos since in the past I would complain about not being able to do such with work the next day. That excuse was eliminated a few months ago. Maybe the weather would stop me. Nope. I went outside to see how things were looking and it was a fine night. Temperatures were ok for a teeshirt (later had to have a jacket), no clouds, and most importantly, no wind. It was a bit humid but that didn't seem to bother the view too much - so I thought. OK, pop in a fresh set of batteries, set up your camera, and spend some outdoor time. It was just me and the armadillos rustling and scratching in the nearby bushes. Fortunately, no other critters visited me.

Those of us that grew up with the original Adam's Family will remember the term moonburn. It is the same as a sunburn but from the moon - a vampire problem as that light is sunlight! Last night was one of those nights. I'm not sure I've seen a brighter moon in my life. My shadow was as crisp as a bright sunny day on my driveway.

This is the moon at 2:05 - coincident with the start of the prenumbra - though far from obvious to me. Though an OK photo, I believe the humidity was taking a toll on the sharpness. I may also have more to learn more about shooting this camera at night. I was set on a tripod with a remote shutter and all image stabilization off. The exposure on this shot is very similar to what I would use for a landscape in the middle of a bright day (ISO100, f9, 1/500, WB for daylight). All of the photos are taken at 580 mm focal length.

As the eclipse began just after 3 AM, I could seeing a change in the exposure. The next photo is shot with essentially identical settings as above at 3:09 AM. You see the shadow coming across the top and it is impacting the exposure across the whole moon (not what I expected or is the prenumbra really that large?). I could increase the exposure and the entire moon was still visible at this point (camera and eye).

When I adjusted the camera setting for a more optimum exposure, you can more clearly see that this was the very start of the eclipse as the shadow started to actually cover part of the moon. You also see the gradient of the prenumbra.

The shadow continues to cover more of the moon and I'm making more and more camera adjustments (exposure and aim). The moon is about 1/2 gone by 3:38 (settings adjusted for better exposure). My moonshadow is gone at this point as the moonlight is significantly reduced.

This photo was taken at 4:16 - supposedly the start of the full eclipse from a table I was using. You can see there is still the slightest sliver outside the shadow. The camera settings are now massively different than anything I would use other than this event. It is dark outside and the moon is more of a dull red ball in the sky than anything resembling the moon. The humidity added to the blur of the moment. My camera lens hood was literally dripping water at this point. I'm just hoping the glass isn't becoming fogged to ruin the photos (and thankful I have a weather resistant camera and lens). You see the red color of the blood moon while using a daylight white balance setting on the camera. You also see stars in the surrounding sky become visible with the lower ambient light.

This is my last shot of the eclipse. It was taken at 5:02 - a few minutes after the published full eclipse time. The exposure time was at 1/2 second with ISO6400. That shutter speed is much too slow for a crisp moon shot. The moon is moving much too much in that time for clarity. I can see star trails just outside this crop. With everything essentially dark, the red moon was much easier to see with the naked eye. Humidity was killing me (and the shots) as the temperatures dropped just below the dew point about 3:30. We were not in fog but we were close. I made it to the full eclipse and it was time to go inside. You are probably 1/2 asleep if you made it this far in this much-too-long note.

Good morning and I'm probably shot for the day. The privilege of being retired.