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Post by Bailey on Jun 19, 2018 10:01:27 GMT
The next total lunar eclipse that can be seen in Melbourne is next month, July. Unfortunately it will be only about 20deg above the horizon and so will be blocked out where I live. This web site displays a list of lunar and solar eclipse dates for the next 10 years for your part of the world. Tonight we have a clear night sky, so I thought I would take advantage of it before the real cold weather sets in next month to take a photo of the moon.  The Moon - Melbourne, 19 June 2018
(Enlargement is clearer) |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 8, 2018 6:15:00 GMT
The next total lunar eclipse viewable from Melbourne and some other parts of the world is on 28 July 2018. For anyone considering photographing the eclipse but not sure how to set up, this is the general process I use when photographing the moon - whether as in my original post or for an eclipse. 1. Mount the camera on a sturdy tripod or something solid where the camera is not easily moved. 2. Set exposure settings to something similar to my previous photo in this thread as a starting point. I set White balance to Auto 3. Turn on Liveview (view image on the LCD screen) which also has the benefit of locking up the camera's mirror. If you prefer to use the view finder and your camera has the option to lock up the mirror (on Canon it's in custom functions) then I highly recommend using it. Locking up the mirror removes one potential source of camera shake. (also, using liveview on the swivel lcd screen is much better for my neck when the camera is pointed skywards  ) 4. Point the camera at the moon with the lens at the short end (makes it easier to find the moon) and then zoom in to your preferred focal length. 5. Using the zoom button on the camera for the LCD screen, I zoom the LCD screen to maximum to help accurate focusing. 6. I then use back button focus to focus on the moon. The auto focus on my camera works really well. If you have trouble auto-focusing the moon, then your only other option is manual focus. If you prefer to not use BBF, then I would recommend switching your lens to manual focus after auto focusing using the shutter button to lock in the focus. You don't want the camera to refocus every time you half press the shutter button. BBF takes the focusing function off the shutter button. 7. I then use a cable remote shutter release to take the shot. If you don't have a remote shutter release, then you can use the timer function or whatever other means your camera has. Pressing the shutter button manually could cause some camera-shake (blurring), especially if zoomed in close. 8. Voila!! Hopefully you now have a nice photo of the moon  If photographing the eclipse - as the moon goes into shadow you will need to increase your exposure.  This is the final composite image I created of the lunar eclipse on 31 January 2018 as seen from Melbourne. The timing and direction of the eclipse doesn't suit me this time. I hope someone will share some photos of the upcoming eclipse. |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 16, 2018 1:39:28 GMT
Is anyone planning to photograph the next total lunar eclipse on the 27th/28th July (depending on your location)?
If you are, and haven't photographed the moon with a long telephoto lens before, I highly recommend having a trial run first. It's not that difficult after a little practice but you will need to be fairly confident operating your camera's controls in the dark, albeit with minimal lighting (small torch/whatever). And a sturdy tripod is a must-have especially if using a long focal length.
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Post by Bailey on Jul 25, 2018 4:40:56 GMT
Last courtesy reminder of the upcoming total lunar eclipse. I know there will be many photos of it on the http://www. Hope to see some on this forum as well |
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 25, 2018 5:12:49 GMT
The eclipse won't be seen in North America. [Got a good sequence on Feb 20, 2008.] Good luck! |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 25, 2018 5:19:32 GMT
Hi Clive,
the next opportunity for North America is on 21 Jan 2019.
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 25, 2018 5:34:33 GMT
HA HA! Bailey, I damn near died of hypothermia in Feb '08! Was cold. Okay, I exaggerate, but cold enough considering I could not wear gloves and it was several degrees below freezing. Fortunately, I was shooting just 75m from the front door, so went out every 30 minutes or so for 4 or 5 minutes. Hope the eclipse on the weekend works for you. Clive Ten years ago ... not quite full eclipse.  |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 25, 2018 10:00:16 GMT
That's an amazing sequence Clive This time around I'm in a similar boat as you were in in 2008. We are in the middle of winter here but a really cold Melbourne night is about 2-4C. Back in January (the last lunar eclipse) it was the middle of summer and we were very lucky to have a mostly clear balmy night during the eclipse. The timing, direction and being close to the horizon make it near impossible to photograph the upcoming eclipse from my home this time around. |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 26, 2018 3:24:46 GMT
Hi Clive,
I just had a look at your enlargement for your moon sequence and on my screen I can see (albeit they are not very obvious, but still there) the original black background of each cropped moon image in the sequence. The black background of each cropped moon is darker than the background of the rest of the image and so the crop boundary in each cropped moon image is visible.
I can't see any difference in the backgrounds on the smaller thumbnail image in your post though. I assume its because the 2 backgrounds are pretty close and so are harder to distinguish on a smaller version of the image. I suspect you would see the different backgrounds in a large print though.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 14:55:48 GMT
I can see (albeit they are not very obvious, but still there) the original black background of each cropped moon image in the sequence. Hmm, I cannot see what you are describing on my calibrated monitors. Perhaps you can advise on which parts specifically you can see this, it would help Clive no doubt as well. |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 27, 2018 2:44:53 GMT
Hi Clive and Simone, This is a screen shot of moon number 5 from the left side after I opened the enlargement image in PSE This is zoomed in (to make the different backgrounds clearer) but the black back square around the moon is visible on most of the moons in the imgbb enlargement on my screen and browser. This might be an issue if a print of the original image was to be made. As I mentioned in my previous post, the different backgrounds do not stand out too much on my screen, but they are there. I use Datacolor's Spyder Studio for my screen calibration and custom printer profiles. In my eclipse sequence, posted earler, I used the Quick Selection Brush to select just the lunar surface and refined the edges before copying onto the image with the "nebula" background. The black square behind the cropped moon is more visible on the enlargement and also in my Chrome browser when compared to Firefox.  |
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 27, 2018 2:53:27 GMT
Bailey, That composite was made by dropping 14 squares (each with a moon phase) onto a "black" background. The resulting image has to be tortured (contrast, levels) in PSE in order to see faint outlines of the squares. The 36-inch print shows nothing but darkness around the moon. It's ten years old and hangs in my office and reminds me of a fun and mystical natural event. What is more "wrong" is that the true line of the moon over four hours is a near straight line...so my representation of the moon tracking such an arc is misleading. See below. Not my work. Thanks for your interest. Clive Image by Javor Kac  |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 27, 2018 8:13:21 GMT
No problem Clive I was just making an observation based on what I see on my screen. As I mentioned originally, the black squares don't really stand out but they are there. I'm not sure what you mean by I can see the black squares on the imgbb enlargement after clicking your posted thumbnail without using PSE at all. It was only after Simone's query that I opened the enlargement in PSE to have a closer look and post back a reply. I had a look at the rgb values. The cropped black squares behind the moon all have rgb values 0,0,0. The background in the rest of the image has rgb values 0,8,0. Given most printers cannot print anywhere near the number of colours that can be seen on a screen, both backgrounds would most likely print with the same colour, depending on the quality of the printer. But on a well calibrated computer screen you can expect to distinguish the subtle difference between 0,0,0 and 0,8,0. As long as it looks ok on the print, that is the main thing that matters . I have found through experience that tiny hard to see flaws on a screen can be much more visible on a print, especially a large print. Hence posting my observation in case you hadn't made a print of the image in the past.  On a side note, this is one of 2 images I use to check my scree calibration and custom printer profiles. On a properly calibrated screen you should be able to see 13 shades from white to black in the bar in the top right hand corner. |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 28, 2018 0:27:28 GMT
I am on the wrong side of 60 to be getting up in the wee hours of the morning in the middle of winter, but I saw this online article this morning about the lunar eclipse which includes eclipse photos from around Australia and other parts of the world.There are some really interesting photos there. My favourite is the one with the bride posing in front of the lunar eclipse. |
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