rwm283main Loc: Terryville, CT

I shot this last night at about 9:45 outside the back door at home in Connecticut. I was using a tripod but I was disappointed that the camera with 100-400mm lens @ 400mm would not stay where I initially aligned it to on the moon. I had to offset it lower than where I wanted it centered on the moon. Once I did that it would creep up to the moon center where I wanted it. I have a heavy duty manfrotto tripod with dual lever adjustments. The camera and lens weighs about 5 lbs. Can anyone out there recommend a tripod that they feel will stay-put once you align it to your target when using a long telephoto lens?
By the way, do you think the moon’s color was due to the haze from the fires out west? There was talk about it on the 6 o’clock news last night.

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chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

I'm not the big tripod afficianado, but I use a gimbal fairly often. A big part of using the gimbal with a heavy lens/body combination is balance. The gimbal has an acra-swiss rail upon which I place my lense's male acra-swiss fitting, then I adjust back and forth until I achieve balance...the gear will stay in any position I put it in. I suspect that's what would solve your problem, in a simpler way, and you wouldn't have to buy another tripod. They sell 6" acra-swiss rails, get one of those and mount it on your head (assuming you have a ball head?) and attach the male fitting on the *lens* with 1/4-20 hardware. Betcha that'll do it after you find the balance point.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Are you sure that it is the tripod thats moving and causing the change of the position of your camera and not the head (ballhead or gimbal) that you are using? Are one or all of the tripod legs not staying locked in place causing the camera and lens to move?

To answer your other question, I'm sure that the color of the moon in your photo is due to the smoke from the wildfires out West that have moved into our area. The sun was an orange ball too, when you could see it through the smoke to begin with. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 175 in Manhattan on July 20, which is considered harmful for healthy individuals. Upstate NY was even worse... in Syracuse, NY the AQI was reported to be 261. Air Quality warnings are sent out and considered hazardous when the the AQI is over 100.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Great shot 🧡🧡🧡🧡