A lunar eclipse happens when the earth is between the sun and a full moon.

Last night, 28th August, was the lunar eclipse and it was a truly amazing sight. My neighbours set up their telescope, and with a set of binoculars, various cameras and a few drinks we were comfortably set up for a couple of hours to view the night-sky. What a great way to experiment with night-time photography!

Through the telescope

The moon looked spectacular through the telescope. It was extremely bright at first as the shadow appeared, and so I used a low exposure -2.0. With the camera lens directly against the telescope eye-glass, I was quite surprised at how well these turned out.

Only the eyes and nose of the Man In The Moon are visible here. I set the exposure quite high.

After this it became difficult to get a photo of the moon through the telescope using the camera. I played around with the light levels in the new iPhoto on this next one to give you an idea of what it was looking like.

Using the tripod

I changed tact and set the camera to the ‘night’ setting, put the exposure up as high as it would go and popped it onto my tripod. The blood red (or rather, orange) moon looked quite surreal – it took on a 3D quality as the colour changed.

I put the large image sizes on Flickr.

How did your photos turn out?

I took this photo recently on my way home from work. It was such a beautiful winter’s day. The afternoon sun was soft and the clouds were so light and fine that it looked as though they had been painted on to the sky. I pulled over for a while just to enjoy the view.

I’ve mentioned before that I love clouds and they do make superb photographic subjects. I’ve just got a copy of The Cloudspotter’s Guide- this book tells me that the wispy clouds right at the very top are called cirrus and are “…delicate streaks of falling ice crystals” which are too high up to actually reach the ground. Delicate as they are, cirrus clouds are usually a sign of worsening weather…and if I recall correctly, there was a heck of a lot of rain soon after this photo was taken.

Well, I hope this high cloud is cirrus – I only just got the book!

I have a small tripod for my digital camera which extends to about 30cm. I use it quite a lot. It comes in especially handy for photographing text-based items. Even the tiniest movement results in a blurred item which is no good for reading print. I occasionally wear the hat of ‘unofficial photographer’ at my workplace, shooting images of archival records that contain very beautiful, albeit occasionally illegible, 18^th Century handwriting. It requires a tripod.

Stop your own shadow creeping in

Using a tripod for photographing items close-up also helps to prevent your own shadow from creeping into the shot. All the lighting in the world won’t help you if you find you are having to hover over a desk (or the floor) to directly line up your camera over the subject for a close-up. My shadow always appears (well, I’m conscious of it) just when I am ready to click. Using the tripod allows me to set up the shot (and set the timer) and then move aside. No more shadow. I can also properly angle the camera at 90 degrees while it sits on the tripod for a direct shot over the subject.

Other tripod uses

Another way in which I use my tripod is simply as an extension of the camera itself. It is a really useful way to hold the camera. Gripping the extended tripod legs together in my hand turns it into a handle of sorts. This holding technique worked well when I was experimenting with my macro setting. It feels as though you are able to move the camera in closer to the subject.

How else do you use your tripod?

Use it across ‘the ages’

Today I discovered the tripod also fits my vintage camera. I love this. I love that modern accessories can be used on older equipment.

It also fits a Pentax ME-F SLR I’ve been experimenting with.

All this for around $25.00 can totally improve your photography.

Related post

• Who else has a Gorillapod tripod?

I talked about a cat photographer called Mr Lee in a previous post and have now stumbled across a cat pianist called Nora. A truly talented feline, this piano playing cat knows her ivories. This YouTube video is the sequel to the original Nora The Piano Cat. Watching this cat play the piano is one of the most enjoyable sights I’ve seen in a while and the piano play off that Nora has with her owner/tutor is lovely. If you need a laugh then watch Nora practice the piano.

Now I want to get a piano…

I finally got my film developed. I tell you, after being so accustomed to the immediacy of a digital camera, the wait was agony. It must have been quite a novelty for the camera shop too, as I received a free film when I picked up the photos. Plus the photos were saved to a disc.

Opening the envelope brought back memories of the excitement, surprise and occasional disappointment of that first glance through a roll of film. I was also a bit of fearful that none of them would turn out. Of course, some shots were total disasters, but I expected that.

Taking the photos

Using the vintage camera wasn’t as complicated as I’d initially thought. In fact, I had a lot of fun. It was more a matter of remembering to set everything: the speed, aperture and then the distance. After that I was relying on blind faith to do the rest! With a bit more practice it will come naturally.

The results

As usual, my cats kindly modeled for most of the photos. Some photos were over-exposed. So I’ve taken closer notice of the hints from the manual. I don’t think I can blame this vintage camera for all my bad shots.

Good focus

These two shots of Lilah were a great surprise – she had been moving around so much, jumping from chair to chair. Eventually she settled down and she is perfectly in focus. The one directly above is almost portrait like with its noticeable depth of field.

Cordelia loves a back-scratch on the pavers in the backyard. Even though it might look over-exposed, this is the actual color of the pavers…and of Cordelia.

Over-exposed

Unfortunately, this one is disastrously over-exposed. It’s a disappointing result, as the sky was intensely blue and the kite was very colorful. Afterwards, I re-read the tip in the manual about slightly pointing the camera down when taking a exposure reading.

Blurry

With this one I hadn’t adjusted the speed aperture correctly and the result was a slightly blurry tree. Even though the camera felt steady, I had misread the setting. However, it really is a great tree. I’ll go back and practice this one again.

Bright

A nice shot to end on, in focus, if a tad bright.