Tag Archives: photography

MY ECLIPSE BATTLES

In the small hours of 21st January 2019 there was a total eclipse of the moon visible from where I live, weather permitting! It was forecast to be cloudy so I didn’t stay up but set an alarm for just before the greatest totality at 5.12am and then woke anyway. There was an eerie orange glow in the sky, no moon visible and then I saw it looking like a copper coloured planet, not the bright shining disc we normally see. An arresting sight. It had to be photographed but it was so dark: 30 seconds exposure as wide as my lens would open at ISO 100 – useless because of motion blur due to the relative movement of the moon and the earth. The ISO had to go up to 1000 to give a reasonably sharp but grainy image. I got a couple of pictures and hoped to do a sequence every 10 minutes until the eclipse ended – but clouds intervened. I almost gave up then the clouds partially parted and eventually I managed a reasonable sequence until just before the end of the eclipse when the moon disappeared behind thick cloud. I was groggy the next day and slow to function but it was worth it!


Posted in Clouds, Photography, Science, Skies, Uncategorized, Weather Also tagged , |