Upcoming Lunar Eclipse 10-12-2011

[Scotty72]

It is still a ways off but, it's time to start thinking about dusting of the Bigmas & tele-convertors for December's lunar eclipse.

Details are here

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/calendar.php?month=12&year=2011&c=2&do=displaymonth

We can start to haggle over the location but, it probably doesn't matter that much as long as we are away from the bright lights.

It will be the middle of the night but, it should be a nice and balmy affair.

Scotty

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day scotty

Thanks for the heads-up
Dunno where we'll be in mid-dec ... but we'll keep your suggested meetup in mind

Regards, Phil

[maccaroneski]

Maybe we could pair it up with the elusive and fabled Lithgow Blast Furnace meet?

[NikonNellie]

Maybe we could pair it up with the elusive and fabled Lithgow Blast Furnace meet?

Not a bad idea Tony! I will have just started holidays so I may be up for this. :D

[Tommo224]

Ah must be ready to bust out the 55-200mm kit lens, give it a bit of a working to get a small moon shot hehehe :D :D

I may join this! If you don't mind a moon photoing no0b rocking up in a noisy obnoxious car with 2 or 3 other photography noobs equipped with SLRs and eager to learn/try new photo things :)

[enVision]

Ah must be ready to bust out the 55-200mm kit lens, give it a bit of a working to get a small moon shot hehehe :D :D

I may join this! If you don't mind a moon photoing no0b rocking up in a noisy obnoxious car with 2 or 3 other photography noobs equipped with SLRs and eager to learn/try new photo things :)

Hmm, you're not talking about me are you? Haha, except for the loud car bit, I don't even have a catback on my rexy. I'll be keen for this, assuming I have the corresponding days off.

[peterb666]

Oh yeah, hmm, might get the Novoflex Nikon G to MFT adapter and turn my 150-500mm Siggy into a 1000mm effective focal lenght.

[OzzieTraveller]

Aaahhhhh be damned wif U lot
I'll go and get a 5" magifying glass with a focal length of 750mm and screw it into an Aust Post cardboard tube and then I'll have a g-r-e-a-t big huge thing that'll be bigger than yours......

Regards, Phil

[BecM]

Well I hope to be back on board by then, would love to join in!

Phil, I hope you are going to be demonstrating this magnificent beast in person :)

[Stingray]

thinkin i will have to log this into my calendar with a 2 week reminder.. LOL...
X'n fingers we will have moved to country NNSW by then .. should be some nice spots around with no "citylight" :)

[ving]

Yup get me siggy out for this too i reckon

Sent from my TR718D

[Analog6]

Australian forum Ice in Sace (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=71605) has some good stories and links (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-619-0-0-1-0.html) with diagrams etc. And their photography guide (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,618,0,0,1,0#PHOTO)

or check out Mr Eclipse (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2011-Fig06.pdf) Fred Espenak at NASA

[tcdev]

Anyone still have plans to drive out to Lithgow tonight?

I'm not 100% sure I'll be going (anywhere) at this stage. The weather isn't promising... :(

[Kym]

Cloudy here in Adelaide :( Maximum eclipse at around 1am ACDT

[Xenedis]

I'm not sure how good a view of the moon we'll get from here, and we're having people over tonight, but given how late the eclipse is, I might be able to duck outside for a shot or two.

I got a pretty good view of the 2007 red moon (http://www.xenedis.net/viewimage.php?i=1256967869) from Cronulla.

Hopefully the view outside will be decent tonight.

This time I'll shoot it at 600mm.

[sunset]

Got my work xmas party tonight. Will aim to focus well when I get back :D

[Xenedis]

Got my work xmas party tonight. Will aim to focus well when I get back :D

Yeah... good luck with that.

Try not to bump into any tables, chairs, tripods, etc. You don't want your colleagues to know the real you. :-D

[Wayne]

Cloudy and stormy in the far NW QLD outback, I will keep an eye on it, and will get the 400VR out if it looks like we will get a clear view.

[peterb666]

Got my work xmas party tonight. Will aim to focus well when I get back :D

Suggest you set your lens up pre-focussed to infinity before you head out the the xmas party and then afterwards all you have to do is set the camera on a tripod and aim. Helps if you have had a few too many.

[keith-killer]

I am in Tokyo, so far so good. Just a few very thing high altitude clouds going past. About 6C out side, so crisp clear air after 4 days of drizzle washed the pollution away. My big lens, 500mm, is set up and ready to go. The best part of the eclipse starts in 30 minutes from now. Full in about 1 hour 50 from now.

[tcdev]

Noticed clear skies in Sydney for an hour or more tonight around 9pm whilst heading home from Moksha Indian Restaurant in Jannali. As soon as I got home I went outside onto the balcony and got a few shots off (pre-eclipse of course) before the cloud moved in.

No fancy equipment for me I'm afraid; hand-held 18-200mm. Used a bag of rice on the patio table as my 'bean bag'.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6486551509_05c67288e1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27403523@N04/6486551509/)
before eclipse (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27403523@N04/6486551509/) by tcdevelop (http://www.flickr.com/people/27403523@N04/), on Flickr

Right now it's about 99% overcast and not looking much better for the next hour or so. :(

[sunset]

Yeah... good luck with that.

Try not to bump into any tables, chairs, tripods, etc. You don't want your colleagues to know the real you. :-D

oooh the truth can hurt :lol: Managed to steer clear of all of those and I'm sober! but don't know if I can stay awake any longer!

[Wayne]

Huge storm out in far NW QLD tonight, lots of cloud, and the moon didn't look all that great. Shot a few at 800mm ISO 3200-6400 to get 1/200 @ f/8. I stood out there for almost 2 hours, and the cloud just never went away....

[peterb666]

A quick and dirty processing of the moon from Sydney at 1:08 am this morning....

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6487525235_e45df13537_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/23034038@N05/6487525235/)
Red Moon 11 Dec 2011 - 01 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/23034038@N05/6487525235/) by peterb666 (http://www.flickr.com/people/23034038@N05/), on Flickr

Settings were 1 second at f/8 and ISO400, Nikon D90 and Sigma 150-500mm @ 500mm and heavily cropped.

[ricktas]

Please post all photos in the critique forums

[Tommo1965]

looks a lot better than my attempt's peter what are the shot details please

[Analog6]

Over cast all night here. I kept going out and checking but I never even SAW the moon!

[Xenedis]

I headed out a few times during the night, and the moon was either obscured by clouds, obscured by trees, or not red.

I missed it this year. Was otherwise occupied, so I didn't have a chance to give it proper attention.

Oh well. I've got until 2014 to prepare for the next occurrence...

[peterb666]

I missed it this year.

Jo and I went down to the park to play with the moon. My shots are here... (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?96285-Red-Moon-Rising&p=954862#post954862)

I learnt a lot from the exercise and I am looking forward to 2014.

[Xenedis]

I learnt a lot from the exercise

One of the main issues you would have noticed is how dark the moon is (from a camera's perspective) once it's fully red.

An unobscured full moon is otherwise very bright, and you can easily achieve a sufficiently fast shutter speed to avoid any slight motion blur. When the moon is red, you need a slower shutter speed to expose it correctly, but you run the risk of slight motion blur. Increasing the ISO is a way around this.

What you also would have noticed when framing the moon is that it moves quickly. The longer your focal length, the more pronounced the movement, so again shutter speed becomes very important.

[peterb666]

That I found. The best shots were those that were no longer than 1 second. I was shooting at ISO400 most of the time but the next one I will try ISO800 and maybe even 1600.

[Xenedis]

That I found. The best shots were those that were no longer than 1 second. I was shooting at ISO400 most of the time but the next one I will try ISO800 and maybe even 1600.

That was my experience during the 2007 red moon.

I was happy with my image given the circumstances, but being the perfectionist I am, I'm not 100% happy with it, as some softness is apparent from the movement of the moon.