Super Blue Blood Moon: I am hoping to get some shots of the Super Blue Blood Moon this Wednesday morning in mountainous western North Carolina. I am not great with the manual modes of...

robertcbyrd Loc: 28754

I am hoping to get some shots of the Super Blue Blood Moon this Wednesday morning in mountainous western North Carolina. I am not great with the manual modes of my Canon 80D camera.

I have the Canon 18-135mm Nano kit lens and a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II wide angle lens.

So I am looking for advice on the optimal setup on a tripod. I will be doing this on the rear deck of my house with about a 10° angle to the viewable horizon over the next hill.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

What is a “blook”?

robertcbyrd Loc: 28754

rjaywallace wrote:

What is a “blook”?

Oops... blood

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Do this in Manual mode. Use your 18-135, because with your wide angle, it is going to be a little white dot in a black sky.
Turn camera / lens to manual focus, and focus on the moon. If your lens "creeps," use a small piece of masking and/or gaffer tape to keep it in place.
Set aperture to F/11, shutter speed to, as a starting point, 1/100th, and ISO 100. Take a few test shots during the week to see how it looks. If ISO 100 doesn't work, increase to 200 @ 1/200th of a sec shutter.

The moon is illuminated by reflected earthlight, so you need to treat it like a daylight exposure.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Use the old standby LOONEY 11 RULE:

The “looney 11 rule” states that for astronomical photos of the Moon’s surface, set aperture to f/11 and shutter speed to the (reciprocal of the) ISO film speed (or ISO setting).”

With ISO 100, one sets the aperture to f/11 and the shutter speed to 1/100 or 1/125 second.
With ISO 200, aperture at f/11, set shutter speed to 1/200 or 1/250.
With ISO 400, aperture at f/11, set shutter speed to 1/400 or 1/500.

More ideas/tips/tricks:
Shaw Academy - How To Photograph The Moon: A Beginner’s Guide
Digital Photography School - 20 Dos and Don’ts for Shooting the Moon
TechRadar - How to photograph the moon: an easy way to shoot moon pictures full of detail
Light Stalking - How to Photograph the Moon (With 10 Great Examples)
Photography Life - How to photograph the moon
Popular Photography - How to photograph the moon
B&H Photo - 14 tips for shooting the moon
Picture Correct - Moon photography tips

Cambridge in Colour - Moon & Night Calculator

dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

robertcbyrd wrote:

I am hoping to get some shots of the Super Blue Blood Moon this Wednesday evening in mountainous western North Carolina. .

I thought this was going to be Wed morning in US ???

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse - 31 Jan
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2018-january-31

robertcbyrd Loc: 28754

dannac wrote:

I thought this was going to be Wed morning in US ???

Yes, 'twas a typo.

MichaelH Loc: NorCal via Lansing, MI

rgrenaderphoto wrote:

Do this in Manual mode. Use your 18-135, because w... (show quote)

But as it moves into the shadow of the Earth it will need increasingly greater exposure. And it does not transition very quickly - starts at 2:50am and ends at moonset for us on the west coast. So there is plenty of opportunity to "chimp" as it progresses. Let us hope for clear skies.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

For the brave individuals who are committed (like me) to capturing this rare event, I suggest using the app PhotoPills. It will give you the exact time, elevation and azimuth for your location during tomorrow morning’s event. If you’re an avid astrophotographer, you will find the PhotoPills app very useful. Can hardly wait to see what everyone else posts on Wednesday.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

pmorin wrote:

For the brave individuals who are committed (like me) to capturing this rare event, I suggest using the app PhotoPills. It will give you the exact time, elevation and azimuth for your location during tomorrow morning’s event. If you’re an avid astrophotographer, you will find the PhotoPills app very useful. Can hardly wait to see what everyone else posts on Wednesday.

The Photographers Ephemeris also provides that information, and it's easier to use and free. PhotoPils is accurately described and the Swiss Army Knife of photography simply because it does so much more than just locate the sun and the moon. But it does have a correspondingly long learning curve, and it's not likely that someone will get it under control in less than two days.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

robertcbyrd wrote:

I am hoping to get some shots of the Super Blue Blood Moon this Wednesday morning in mountainous western North Carolina. I am not great with the manual modes of my Canon 80D camera.

I have the Canon 18-135mm Nano kit lens and a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II wide angle lens.

So I am looking for advice on the optimal setup on a tripod. I will be doing this on the rear deck of my house with about a 10Â° angle to the viewable horizon over the next hill.

This was with a 600mm, hand held (lying on my back, actually), 1/200, F8, ISO 100, Sigma Sport 150-600. It was the Super Moon, a day or two after the full moon, taken on 11/16/16. Bear in mind that the red color is only going to happen for a short period of time as the moon passes into the earth's umbral shadow, and turns orange. In the east, that will last about 10 minutes starting at 6:48 AM, then we get the glow from the sunrise, which happens at 7:06 AM. It's a very short window - if at all. It gets better the further west you move.

As the moon turns orange the earth's shadow will strongly diminish the brilliance and you will likely have to boost up your ISO. Your better lens choice would be the 18-135. The wide angle would give you a small dot in the sky.

(Download)

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Gene51 wrote:

The Photographers Ephemeris also provides that information, and it's easier to use and free. PhotoPils is accurately described and the Swiss Army Knife of photography simply because it does so much more than just locate the sun and the moon. But it does have a correspondingly long learning curve, and it's not likely that someone will get it under control in less than two days.

Was just sharing information. Simple go to’s have their advantages and I had seen that someone already posted a link to timeanddate.com. But thank you for sharing the info on The Ephemeris.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

It's supposed to be too cloudy in St. Louis...besides, I don't like being out in the cold and I have to be getting ready for work at them time. I tried to take a lunar eclipse series before, but I really couldn't get the ISO low enough to prevent snowy and/or blurry pics.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

It's good to see it and shoot it, but then you are going to enhance it anyway in Photoshop, so...