Photographing the Lunar Eclipse

Early yesterday I morning went outside to photograph the lunar eclipse that was visible all across north America.  Although it was not my original plan, I ended up staying up all night and shooting over 400 images during the event. 

Since the moon was directly overhead for part of the time, I was unable to mount my lens on my tripod because it cannot be tilted that far upward without the long lens or the camera body hitting the top of the tripod.  Due to this, I hand-held my rig for a good portion of the time, and fired short bursts hoping to get a few sharp images out of each attempt.  Later when the moon was at a lower angle, I mounted my rig on the tripod and was able to just fire single shots every couple minutes.  One has to constantly adjust the camera aim since the moon actually moves rather quickly across the sky. 

What I have posted below is a sequence of 12 images that I believe summarizes what I saw over the four-hour period.   If you were not able to stay up all night, or if the weather prevented you from seeing it (as was the case in parts of the Western  United States) you can get a glimpse of what you missed below.

[Click on any image to see a larger view]

Image #1 of 12 - 12:58am

Image #2 of 12 - 1:59am

Image #3 of 12 - 2:15am

Image #4 of 12 - 2:39am

Image #5 of 12 - 3:22am

Image #6 of 12 - 3:46am

Image #7 of 12 - 3:52am

Image #8 of 12 - 3:56am

Image #9 of 12 - 4:14am

Image #10 of 12 - 4:32am

Image #11 of 12 - 4:53am

Image #12 of 12 - 5:03am