5DMKII + 100mm f/2.8, 2.5sec at f/4.5, ISO 640
Yesterday, I ran outside with my 5DMKII and my tripod to grab a shot of the lunar eclipse at midnight — half in pjs and wearing a beaver hat. :P
It was so foggy and cloudy that it took me about 15 minutes to find the moon. We were about to call an “epic eclipse fail” when the cloud cover broke, and the moon appeared behind my building…
I darted under my building and pointed my longest lens, the 100mm f/2.8, straight up at the sky. I cranked my ISO to 6400 and used live view to focus on the moon and frame in the building. Then, I switched back to camera view and decreased my ISO to 640 and used a shutter release remote to snap this. The moon was only visible for about 5 minutes, so I only got about 10 shots. I did briefly think what I would have gotten with this 800mm I got to fondle at Canon Press room at the 2010 Olympics…
If you snapped a shot of the Lunar eclipse, please share it in the comments, I’m really interested to see your shots!
Nathan Choate
December 23, 2010 at 1:45 AMAWESOME! This is one of the best shots of the eclipse I have seen. Good stuff. I was bummed that there was super thick cloud cover here. Couldn’t see it at all. :o(
Tweets that mention My view of the Lunar Eclipse, December 2010 | MostlyLisa.com | Photography tips & tricks -- Topsy.com
December 23, 2010 at 2:25 AM[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by CreativePhotoKC. CreativePhotoKC said: RT @photoaddicts: My view of the Lunar Eclipse, December 2010: 5DMKII + 100mm f/2.8, 2.5sec at f/4.5, ISO 640 http://bit.ly/h55ehQ […]
Michael B
December 23, 2010 at 10:49 AMI was very fortunate regarding weather. Clear the entire night and warmish in Tampa, Florida.
Some of my pics can be found on my FB profile [http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2600050&id=5026895&l=a0022f84bd] or my main site [http://www.perihelionphotography.com/Nature/Lunar-Eclipse].
I do feel very dumb for one thing. I spent the entire evening with my 70-200 using teleconverters to zoom in, constantly adjust, and juggle settings. At the very end I was thinking, I wish I had a better lens and then suddenly remembered that I had an of Canon FD 400mm 2.8 manual lens sitting in a closet about which I had nearly forgotten I had. So I ran back inside and squeezed off just a couple of shots of the last bit of the shadow passing over. Argggggg. Oh well, next lunar eclipse I’ll definitely be ready.
Chris Ratzlaff
December 23, 2010 at 4:09 PMBeautiful composition, Lisa! I really like the thin red haze around the moon!
Here a few of my shots from the eclipse, shot with a 7D and 70-200-non-IS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ratzlaff/5281581673/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ratzlaff/5279224325/
Tim
December 23, 2010 at 4:32 PMmy shot – very cloudy skys
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alborath/5280084844/
Charles Baker
December 23, 2010 at 6:08 PMLucky you!! I sat outside away from the city on a hill for hours. Not once did the cloud cover break for me to get a shot. Very dissapointing. Your shot is great the way you composed it.
Drew Griffin
December 23, 2010 at 8:17 PMGreat Shot Lisa. Thanks for listing your settings as I was curious how to take shots of the moon. Beautiful and thanks for sharing
Anthony Lattanzio
December 24, 2010 at 1:02 AMgreat shot , i tried to get one myself but couldn’t get it right with a Rebel XTI that i only had with me. 70-300mm f4.5.
Nathan
December 24, 2010 at 11:45 AMYou’re lucky you had clear skies and are situated on the west coast. We, near Washington DC, had perfectly clear skies and it was a gorgeous night; however, I was not able to stay up till 3 AM our time to capture the moon in all its red glory and still get up to go to work in the morning. One more thing I miss about being on the west coast.
Darcy McGee
December 25, 2010 at 11:50 PMMoon is, generally speaking, 125/f8 @ an ISO of 100. That makes me doubt that this shot was a single exposure.
The change in the colour and accompanying brightness caused by the eclipse would require a longer exposure, but 2.5 seconds at and ISO of 6400 makes you off by far too many stops.
Mostly Lisa
December 26, 2010 at 12:53 AM@Darcy McGee: The photo was taken at ISO 640. Check the EXIF.
Zoe
December 29, 2010 at 11:14 PMLisa,
I love how you balanced the avalible light with the lunar light, is this a composite of more than one photo?
Here is a photo that I took, it is single exposure.
http://opticbard.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/lunar-eclipse/
vancouverphotographer
December 31, 2010 at 3:06 PMI came across this post while doing a search for photos of the recent lunar eclipse. Just wanted to write and tell you what a wonderful shot you took! Lovely composition and light!
Stan Richard
January 12, 2011 at 1:45 PMHi Lisa, here’s my eclipse shot from suburban Des Moines, using a 5D mkII and 70-200 IS L with 1.4x teleconverter. btw, love your site :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanzman/5349566493/
Cheers!
Stan