Pic of the Day

Crescent Moon, Shadow side 1/2 second,  f4

Crescent Moon 1/400th second,  f4.5

   Crescent Moon – January 6, 2011:  As I drove north out of Florida a brilliant crescent moon hung above the western horizon.  The sky was a deep azure blue and quickly fading to black.  The shadow side of the moon, lit by light reflecting from Earth was quite bright in the cold, crisp winter air.  The conditions were perfect for photography. 

   As I drove across the Florida/Georgia state line I pulled into the Georgia welcome station, set-up my camera and lens on a tripod and began shooting.  Knowing the exposure for the sunlit side of the moon is 1/125^th of a second at f8, I set an equivalent exposure of 1/400^th of a second at f4.5. The faster shutter speed helped reduce blurriness caused by camera/lens vibration. 

   After shooting for the detail in the crescent moon, I took another image exposing for the shadow side of the moon.   I did a number of exposure variations and achieved a reasonably sharp image of the shadow side at 1/2 second at f4.  The sunlit crescent is highly overexposed but craters and mares are readily visible on the shadow side.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 500mm f4

Pic of the Day

    Full Moon – September, 2009 from Horsecove, Alabama:  On December 21, 2010, that’s only two days away, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from Alaska to Scandinavia and Greenland to Panama..  The eclipse begins with first penumbral contact at 05:27:43 UT.  Mid totality is 08:16:56 UT and ends with last penumbral contact at 11:06:04 UT.  For those living in the Easter Time Zone subtract 5 hours from UT for local time.  For Central Time Zone subtract 6 hours from UT. 

     If you would like to photograph the eclipse use a 300mm or longer focal length lens.  A 500mm will produce an image similar to the image size in the above photo on a DX format.  I have found that a good base exposure for the full moon is 1/500 second at f5.6.  As the eclipse progresses longer exposure will be necessary, and a sturdy tripod will be essential to maintain a sharp image. If weather permits I plan on photographing the eclipse and will post the results.  I hope you have fair skies as well, and have the opportunity to see and photograph the event.  For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2010_lunar_eclipse, The site has good information.  Good luck!

Nikon D300, 500mm f4 Digital Capture ISO 200, Shot at 1/250 sec. @ f8