This past weekend we had a stellar lunar event. It was a Full Moon, check, The January full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, check (also known as cold moon.” The moon was close to earth, so it was also a Super Moon because it was fractionally bigger (although I couldn’t tell) and we had a lunar eclipse going on and with the lunar eclipse the the moon turns a shade of red. Thus the Super Duper Blood Wolf Moon. Maybe we like our moons too much?
So here is the moon about an hour or so before anything starts happening. I don’t use my “good” camera to shoot the moon. I have a Canon SX40 SuperZoom. I saw on youtube that with it you just put the camera on Auto setting and then zoom up the moon until it is a big part of the screen and then click. And you know what? It works. I don’t worry about settings and tripods, I just hold it in my hand and do it.
And here we are with the eclipse just starting.
And further almost to a complete eclipse and this is where my method really falls apart because there is not enough light for the auto settings to work. So the camera ends up with like a 1/10th of a second shutter speed instead of 1/200th like the photo above. So this is out of focus and I had to use some heavy duty editing to amplify the light that did come out. Still not too bad a pic.
And a finale pic
jjj
I took my Nikon to work the other day because of Martin Luther King’s Day and at the end of the work day I used it to shoot a few shots of the western sky. So that is looking west and includes the Arkansas River. Works much better than the iphone pics I generally post. I’m going to start carrying the Nikon around with me more. It takes much better photos than the phone camera.
How gorgeous! I enjoyed the red moon/lunar eclipse in minus 15C so didn’t take any pics.
Well, with the telephoto lens there is the possible added problem of camera shake. If you brace it in some way, I guess the tripos is expendable…in any event, your shots look sharp. Wow…you have a Canon and a Nikon… reminds me of the saying about Germans: zwei Seele in einer Brust [two souls in a chest/breast].
Spectacular sunset. The moon shots are brilliant too.
You must be rock solid holding that camera. I don’t think I shake, but my hand held pics at zoom say otherwise. (And, of course, I hate using the tripod.) In the western sky shot, the river looks molton.
You know, your SX 40 does an outstanding job! I don’t think I could do any better with my full-frame Canon and high-end telephoto. You’re right, things get challenging as the eclipse proceeds because of less light, and therefore, you need a tripod. That’s a gorgeous sunset!
Your photography is amazing – love the moon shots
OK, I’m going to start using my little Nikon on Auto for the moon. You did great.
Wow amazing clicks.
I failed to get outside and photograph the eclipse. Nice work Yogi, but that sunset on the Arkansas River is suitable for framing. Well done.
This is one of the few blogs that I get to enjoy great moon shots. Stunning sunset! Have a great weekend!
nice sunset
Beautiful captures! Thanks for sharing your eclipse experience. It was too cold to stay outside, plus overcast, here. Thanks also for hosting the Skywatch Friday blogfest. Always nice to have another avenue for networking and making new friends in the Blogosphere. Cheers!
You did way better with the moon than I did. Sunset is also very nice.
That is stellar (pun intended) work. I can’t seem to get it to work for me though, I think my little 200mm lens just isn’t doing it. Nicely done. You held that in your hand?!
I am impressed that the camera does that automatically.
Wow, Yogi – your camera did really well with the super moon. Amazing that you didn’t need a tripod either!
Beautiful shots! We have a cloudy sky during the Wolf Moon 🙁
Thank you for hosting Skywatch Friday.
Glad you found a method that (mostly) works for capturing the moon. I am hopeless at it, so I am “over the moon” to see your pictures. The last one with the sky and the river is also terrific – the river looks so different in this light – well done!