All day long it did not look very hopeful for a view of the lunar eclipse on the solstice, an extremely rare celestial event. Thick flannel gray clouds blanketed Flagstaff's skies and an astronomer friend said that the forecast wasn't good. But we stayed up late (not easy for us old folks) and kept checking outside. Amazingly, as the shadow of the Earth slowly began to slide across the face of the moon, the clouds thinned enough for a most spectacular sight.
As you may remember from an earlier post, photographing the moon usually takes a normal daylight exposure since it IS the sun illuminating the lunar surface. However during an eclipse, the range of brightness is so extreme between the shadow and unshadowed areas that it is difficult to get a good exposure without resorting to High Dynamic Range techniques ( something to be discussed in a future blog - it's where several images are taken at different exposures and then combined using software). Additionally, once the shadow covers the moon, the light is pretty dim, requiring a much longer exposure. To keep it simple while I was outside in my pjs, I waited until totality was almost complete and then bracketed my shots. The best turned out to be .6 seconds @ f2.8; ISO 800.
Happy Holidays and Good Shooting (with a camera)! :-)
All day long it did not look very hopeful for a view of the lunar eclipse on the solstice, an extremely rare celestial event. Thick flannel gray clouds blanketed Flagstaff's skies and an astronomer friend said that the forecast wasn't good. But we stayed up late (not easy for us old folks) and kept checking outside. Amazingly, as the shadow of the Earth slowly began to slide across the face of the moon, the clouds thinned enough for a most spectacular sight. 
October 22-23 was the annual Bluff Arts Festival. Kate Aitchison and Ann Kramer were two of the featured artists at the Cow Canyon Trading Post. Kate was showing her unique monotype prints, and Ann had a number of pieces made from recycled materials, such as coffee bags, bottles caps, and felted wool from old sweaters.
In mid-October, I had the great opportunity to participate in a three-day workshop for photo instructors put on by Lindblad Expeditions and held at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. It's not easy getting about 30 Lindblad staff together in one place at the same time. Some of us have been instructors for years while others were new at teaching photography. But it was a wonderful learning experience for all of us and, of course, lots of fun to see old friends and make new ones.
Where does the time go? I have been very negligent in posting to the blog. Summer has been just too much fun.
This is an unabashed announcement of my latest attempt at writing non-fiction. The University of Arizona Press is publishing this natural history book in November. But if you call them at 1-800-426-3797 or go to their website, www.uapress.arizona.edu, and use the code "FLR", you can get the book for 20% off. Such a deal!
