Yes, I have this little kick for astrophotography. Milky Way, star trails, lunar eclipses, solar eclipses, lightning strikes, all of the above.
And last night, I wanted to capture the partial lunar eclipse that would pass through New York. I mean, it’s not a total lunar eclipse, that one arrives in March 2025. But this one is a good one for practice.
And yes, I know I captured an award-winning photo from the 2022 lunar eclipse, thank you for reading my blog back then. And if you didn’t read it back then … here’s that post.
Now that eclipse was planned with the military precision of the Normandy Beach invasion.
Last night … I just took my camera and tripod around my neighborhood in the Town and Village.
Let’s see. Nikon Df attached to my Matusov 1100mm Russian mirror lens. Strapped this photographic howitzer onto my tripod, attached a cabled shutter release, and waited.
The eclipse’s darkest point would appear at 10:45 p.m. Eastern. All I need is time and patience. And very few clouds.
Meanwhile, I goofed around with the camera on my cell phone.
Ah, nothing like a classic shadow selfie.
I actually tried to shoot the eclipse with my cell phone, but Google Pixel 6 Pros really don’t have that kind of sharpness for the kind of astrophotography I want. Although I did get my “I took a photo of the eclipse by using my camera to capture a photo of the eclipse” meta-photo.
I dunno. Not really feeling this one, if you know what I mean.
But at 10:45 … I was ready. And I got this shot.
Damn. That mirror lens was dialed in tack-sharp tight.
And just for the heck of it … I took some multiple-expose shots of the eclipse, and combined them in an HDR capture. Haven’t done one of these in a while, but this is what I achieved with a little pluck and luck.
I don’t know about your opinion, but that black and white HDR capture looks absolutely delicious. I think that one deserves a little trip to the short pile for Competition Season 2025.
And if I’m happy with what I picked up this year from a partial lunar eclipse …
Imagine what I can do with some planning and preparation in March 2025.
Yeah, baby.
Chuck The Writer 
I was planning to take a picture of the full moon last night with my ‘new’ camera, but alas it doesn’t work. I did get to see it though, because the animals wouldn’t let me sleep.
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