Did you see this morning's total lunar eclipse? It was well worth my getting up 90 minutes early! I watched the Moon move from the shade of Earth's outer shadow and into the deep inner cone of darkness — within the space of a bit more than an hour Luna changed from a full, golden disk to a dull coppery remnant in the western sky. Sunrise erased the last traces of the spectacle from sight a little after 6:00 AM Tuesday, August 28.
At about 4:45 AM, I stepped out on to our western-facing porch and carried my camera, already mounted to its tripod, down to the walk. From there I shot my first photos of the mostly-bright Moon. I worked out the best exposure settings and tested the focus. Next I moved to the court at the end of our driveway apron, set up the tripod there, shot a few more images. From there I swung the camera around and got a few images of Orion rising above the trees… long time, old friend! Those shots, along with one of the Pleiades and neighboring Hyades star cluster, came out surprisingly well. Progressively, stopping here and there, I began working my way up the hill stopping on the pavement several times to look up and maybe make another image or three — no cars at all, thank goodness, just some guy on a bicycle who seemed surprised to see me. Then I took a non-stop hike to a place just across from the town square. On a knoll beside a nursing home, overlooking the police station and the Columbia River valley beyond, I set up to stay til the end. Staff on break from the nursing home called across in the morning darkness, "is there a lunar eclipse?" "Yep," I yelled back, "and it's nearly in totality now!" "Wow, I thought it was," they answered after taking a peek, "but I didn't hear about it on the news."
PhotonStopper 
Gosh, I forgot! Thanks for the pics.
Sorry you forgot to go out and look… it was a beautiful night (at least here in Northeastern Ohio) and lunar eclipses are a glorious sight to behold with your own eyes. Next chance (in the U.S.) is February 2008.
Congrats on making the [TIG] page!
Good shot. I had trouble getting super sharp photos as well. I'm over in Boston and the moon was below the trees before totality, but I'm pretty happy with the shots I took. As you mention, we have our next shot in February then again next August!
Hey, thanks! I liked yours as well… maybe especially the twilight shot with blue sky and trees. There are so many images of eclipses that an artistic touch makes all the difference!
Thanks! It's my first time in such a prominent position on Vox and I've gotta say it rocks! There are some awfully good eclipse images posted and it's been fun to see what others saw.
Yep I saw it. I had a bit of trouble with cloud cover initially and also setting up my camera. Luckily for us in Australia it occurred at a sensible time at around 8pm and beyond. I also had trouble getting the pictures sharp, but I am happy with what I got considering it was my 2nd attempt at night photography, the last time was for the last comet – McNaught. The cloud cover also gave off some interesting effects on some of the shots.Congratulations.
Thanks, although eventually that became part of the problem. The sky was getting too blue to get clear shots of the moon 🙂
We had excellent sky conditions –some of the best in recent weeks– but with the Moon so low there was still much atmosphere for us to contend with. I really liked your #24 shot (eclipsing Moon with star) and #238 was pretty nice, too. Lunar eclipses are notoriously difficult because as totality sets in and the Moon grows dim and colorful, it's still moving and we're using longer exposure times! You guys down south had an historically "Great Comet" in McNaught; I hope you got some good photos of that because you probably won't see it's like within your remaining lifetime! Congratulations on the beautiful eclipse photos.
Yeah, morning twilight was part of the deal for everybody in the Eastern U.S. It was a unique experience for me. I've stayed up late and watched entire eclipses but never watched one as it disappeared into the brightening morning sky. I may have missed half the show but I thoroughly enjoyed it! You took advantage of the conditions and got a beautiful image in the bargain.
I'm debating as to what I'm going to do in Feb. I'm going to have to go East to really get into totality, but at least the timings will be better.Still, a good eclipse only comes along every few years, so you only get a handful of eclipses and meteor showers per lifetime….
Thanks James. It really is a problem when these celestial beings won't stay still for the camera – they are just so inconsiderate, we pay them homage and that is how they reimburse us 🙂 It is just so amazing how quickly a star moves in just a few seconds.I got some pics of the comet, however silly me didn't realise about its existence until it wasn't as bright in the sky. So my pics of the comet are long trails of light due to the requirement of a long exposure to pick up the light of the comet.