lunar eclipse photo tips?

beaumont · 12-20-2010, 10:06 PM

Any tips re taking shots of the eclipse tonight? I'm thinking of using a number of lenses including the fisheye to get a shot of the Christmas lights on the house, with the moon in the background...
Any thoughts are appreciated.
thx

jboyde · 12-20-2010, 10:27 PM

Eclipses are a metering nightmare for me!
Most of the time the moon comes out looking like a bright baseball because people underestimate how bright a full moon really is. Right now, before the eclipse, Im at 1/125 at f8, ISO 100 on my DA 50-200 (the lens I have with the longest reach). I'm shooting with manual exposure to keep consistent. Hopefully the moon and your Xmas lights can be well exposed in one shot. Worse comes to worse you can take one exposure of the dark moon and another of the house and combine them. I'm going to be doing straight moon shots.

Good luck. :-)

beaumont · 12-20-2010, 10:40 PM

Originally posted by jboyde

Eclipses are a metering nightmare for me!
Most of the time the moon comes out looking like a bright baseball because people underestimate how bright a full moon really is. Right now, before the eclipse, Im at 1/125 at f8, ISO 100 on my DA 50-200 (the lens I have with the longest reach). I'm shooting with manual exposure to keep consistent. Hopefully the moon and your Xmas lights can be well exposed in one shot. Worse comes to worse you can take one exposure of the dark moon and another of the house and combine them. I'm going to be doing straight moon shots.

Good luck. :-)

And good luck to you too! (Thanks for the info.)

Ira · 12-21-2010, 05:51 AM

I forgot to set my alarm and missed it.

jaieger · 12-21-2010, 09:03 AM

Originally posted by Ira

I forgot to set my alarm and missed it.

I remembered to set my alarm and hit snooze

beaumont · 12-21-2010, 02:29 PM

The best I could do with my 18-250 Pentax. (Slightly cropped.)

keyser · 12-21-2010, 02:34 PM

That's a pretty nice shot. I was trying to get a shot at 1/50 ISO1600 210mm focal length F/4 (no IS) - I somehow achieved that, but your shot is better!

Last edited by keyser; 12-21-2010 at 02:39 PM.

beaumont · 12-21-2010, 03:05 PM

Thanks for the kind words. This one was at ISO 100, 2.5 sec at f7.1. (And about -20 degrees celcius!)

**Ex Finn.** · 12-21-2010, 04:50 PM

Both of those are pretty good for short lenses. You all do those hand-held?. Never mind, 2.5 seconds, guess not.

keyser · 12-22-2010, 09:17 AM

mine was handheld

12-20-2010, 10:06 PM	#1
beaumont Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 505	lunar eclipse photo tips? Any tips re taking shots of the eclipse tonight? I'm thinking of using a number of lenses including the fisheye to get a shot of the Christmas lights on the house, with the moon in the background... Any thoughts are appreciated. thx

12-21-2010, 02:29 PM	#6
beaumont Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 505 Original Poster	The best I could do with my 18-250 Pentax. (Slightly cropped.) Last edited by beaumont; 02-07-2011 at 07:49 PM.

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12-20-2010, 10:27 PM	#2
jboyde Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New York Posts: 328	Eclipses are a metering nightmare for me! Most of the time the moon comes out looking like a bright baseball because people underestimate how bright a full moon really is. Right now, before the eclipse, Im at 1/125 at f8, ISO 100 on my DA 50-200 (the lens I have with the longest reach). I'm shooting with manual exposure to keep consistent. Hopefully the moon and your Xmas lights can be well exposed in one shot. Worse comes to worse you can take one exposure of the dark moon and another of the house and combine them. I'm going to be doing straight moon shots. Good luck. :-)

12-20-2010, 10:40 PM	#3
beaumont Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 505 Original Poster	Originally posted by jboyde Eclipses are a metering nightmare for me! Most of the time the moon comes out looking like a bright baseball because people underestimate how bright a full moon really is. Right now, before the eclipse, Im at 1/125 at f8, ISO 100 on my DA 50-200 (the lens I have with the longest reach). I'm shooting with manual exposure to keep consistent. Hopefully the moon and your Xmas lights can be well exposed in one shot. Worse comes to worse you can take one exposure of the dark moon and another of the house and combine them. I'm going to be doing straight moon shots. Good luck. :-) And good luck to you too! (Thanks for the info.)

12-21-2010, 05:51 AM	#4
Ira Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Coral Springs, FL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,216	I forgot to set my alarm and missed it.

12-21-2010, 09:03 AM	#5
jaieger Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 586	Originally posted by Ira I forgot to set my alarm and missed it. I remembered to set my alarm and hit snooze

12-21-2010, 02:34 PM	#7
keyser Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tsawwassen, BC Posts: 376	That's a pretty nice shot. I was trying to get a shot at 1/50 ISO1600 210mm focal length F/4 (no IS) - I somehow achieved that, but your shot is better! Last edited by keyser; 12-21-2010 at 02:39 PM.

12-21-2010, 03:05 PM	#8
beaumont Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 505 Original Poster	Thanks for the kind words. This one was at ISO 100, 2.5 sec at f7.1. (And about -20 degrees celcius!)

12-21-2010, 04:50 PM	#9
Ex Finn. Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern Maryland. Espoo. Kouvola. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 7,975	Both of those are pretty good for short lenses. You all do those hand-held?. Never mind, 2.5 seconds, guess not.

12-22-2010, 09:17 AM	#10
keyser Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Tsawwassen, BC Posts: 376	mine was handheld

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