Supermoon - Blood Moon - Eclipse

Moonrise over the Elizabeth islands and Buzzards Bay 

Last night was the final eclipse of the tetrad.  The weather gods were kind compared to the previous eclipses.  Two were rained out and the third was only able to be seen through half the eclipse since it clouded completely over.  Three of us were at Gooseberry neck at the time of moonrise and one person joined us for the eclipse.  We stayed and watched the moonrise in the sky and the clips begin and finally stopped after the moon was coming out of full eclipse.  At the time of the eclipse you were able to see the stars shining in the sky.  The sky started out clear and then a few high thin clouds passed over the moon and dissipated by the time the eclipse began.  There were many people at Gooseberry out to watch, party and enjoy the eclipse.

Once I had the moon in sharp focus, I turned my camera's autofocus to manual and until the moon was half eclipsed I did not have to change any shutter speed.  It was a wonderful evening and a good time was had by all.

Moon Climbing toward Full

Start of the Eclipse

Eclipse Continuing

Almost Full Eclipse

Full Eclipse

Full Eclipse and the Stars Showing in the Night Sky

Composite of the Eclipse

Photographing the Milky Way Additional Information.

Milky Way over Gooseberry

Milky Way over Gooseberry

In my previous blog on photographing the Milky Way, besides the Stone Barn the other location to photograph the Milky Way I mentioned was Gooseberry Neck.

Despite light pollution due to the city's towns and villages along the shore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with the appropriate settings in your camera.  You can get great pictures of the Milky Way.  In fact, you can get even surprises.  In this picture not only you can see the Milky Way, but there are three meteors and three airplane tracks.

Milky Way over Gooseberry with meteors

Locations of Meteors and Airplane Tracks

 I experimented taking a panorama of the Milky Way starting at ground level up to 90° overhead.  After importing the pictures into Lightroom and batch adjusting the settings, I exported the pictures into Photoshop CC 2014  and merged into a panorama.  Although the tripod didn't move, I needed to crop the picture and then did some further adjustments in Photoshop.  The main problem that I observed with this picture is I did not overlap the pictures is much as I should have.  Well you live and learn.

Milky Way over Gooseberry Panorama

Any clear evening from September 20 through September 28 after 8 PM will be a good time to photograph the Milky Way.  Remember September 24-25th, I will be holding a workshop at the Stone Barn of Allens Pond Sanctuary in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, starting at 8 PM.  The advantage of photographing the Milky Way at the Stone Barn is there is less light pollution and bathrooms and a kitchen so you could have coffee, tea or what ever else you want to bring to drink.  You receive instructions on your settings and any other help you may need to capture the Milky Way.  Remember to sign up at the Allens Pond Site.

Remember I have a workshop to to photograph the lunar eclipse on October 8 at the parking lot on Gooseberry Neck, Westport, Massachusetts, starting at 4:45 AM.  The other interesting event occurring is that there are two meteor showers peaking around that date: Draconids and Southern Taurids.  As the moon starts to eclipse and it's light diminishes there is a greater possibility of viewing the meteors.

The cost of the workshop will be $25 payable by PayPal.

I will have prepared handouts showing settings that you will need in order to capture the event.  Also since the Moon will set just after the sunrise occurs we can also photograph  the sunrise.  Equipment needed includes a steady tripod, camera, a medium to long zoom lens or a 300 mm-500 mm lens, a shutter release and a flashlight or headlamp plus appropriate clothing. Also,  you can utilize a wide-angle lens  to take multiple exposures then stack the photos in Photoshop or any other stacking program .  In case of bad weather the fee will be returned.

Using the coupon code mborn you will receive a 15% discount on any or all of the Topaz plug-ins.



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