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Lunar Eclipse 2007

Posted by Aaron Schmidt (Auckland, New Zealand) on 29 August 2007 in Plants & Nature and Portfolio.

New Zealand had bright, clear skies for the total lunar eclipse last night so I setup my tripod and went to work. The idea for this composition was inspired by Jason's Total Lunar Eclipse of 2004. Notice the different orientation of the moon between his shot(s) and mine due to the different starting location on Earth (Northern versus Southern hemisphere).

Moving right to left, the first two shots were 1/400s F/8.0 ISO100, the 3rd shot was 1/100s F/8.0 ISO100 and the final eclipse shot was 1s F/4.0 ISO400. All images were captured at 200mm on a Canon 20D. On the final shot I could have decreased the ISO and increased the exposure time (to reduce digital noise), however the moon is a moving object and will blur if exposed for long enough so I wasn't willing to take any chances. IMHO, motion blue is far worse than digital noise.

For more moon shots: Portrait of the Moon & Space shuttle by the Moon
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