Did I get that blood moon lunar eclipse?

I’ve run the gamut of successful eclipse photography and failed eclipse photography.

In 2022, I captured a brilliant lunar eclipse from beginning to end. And in 2024, I captured a full solar eclipse, complete with solar flares.

But I’ve also failed in my attempts. A broken tripod mount in 2016 ruined a lunar eclipse shot. A chance for an eclipse in San Antonio in 2023 was marred by clouds.

So I had to factor in almost every variable for this morning’s lunar eclipse attempt.

First thing I needed was a shooting location – something with prime, safe parking and a clear sky view.

And after some scouting shots … I found this location.

This is an overlook from East Greenbush towards Albany. I’ll have the Empire State Plaza buildings in front of me, with the moon path running diagonally towards the Empire State Plaza. This will work.

Weather report says clear skies throughout the evening into tomorrow morning. This will work.

I confirmed with the hotel whose parking lot adjoins the overlook. I can park there without any trouble. Aces.

Okay … now all I need is some sleep. Go to bed early so that I’m refreshed and ready to go.

Right. You ever just “try” to go to sleep before a big event?

Yeah. Didn’t work for me, either. In fact, at one point I started to drift to Slumberland … almost there … phone rings. It’s my pharmacy. They want to know if I had my flu shot and my shingles shot.

Seriously? The shingles shot I received at your pharmacy two years ago? And the flu shot I received at your pharmacy LAST SEPTEMBER?? Ugh. I remained polite, explained that I was current on my vaccines and that I wasn’t some knuckle-dragging liver-eating cocaine-snorting-off-toilet-seats clown like Robert Kennedy Jr., and thanked the caller for her time.

Then back to sleep.

Nope. Can’t sleep. Not a wink.

Screw it. Got up at 2:30 a.m. Checked the weather reports. Clear skies until 6:00 p.m., when “partly cloudy” would arrive.

Partly cloudy I can work with.

My body is half-awake, half-asleep. Need me some Sugar Free Red Bulls to get through this.

Arrived at the shooting location. Checked the temperature. 11 degrees. That’s 11°F. That’s F as in F’ing cold.

But what’s a bit of frostbite if you can get a great photo series?

Set up the tripod. Nikon Df camera at the ready, with the Zodiak 180° fisheye lens on the chassis. I’m thinking shooting at 10-minute intervals will get the full eclipse run into totality.

Let’s do this.

Started my shots at 3:10 a.m. And I had a routine. Shoot the shots, go back to the car, warm up for ten minutes, go back to the camera, shoot again, lather, rinse, repeat.

And at 4:50 a.m. – I saw the first eclipse shading. This is great. This is so awesome. I’m so happy to have pulled this off …

At 5:00 a.m., I saw more shading on the moon. This may work.

At 5:10 a.m., I saw something else.

Clouds.

Not wispy clouds.

Not gauzy clouds.

No, these were big thick woolly blanket clouds.

And by 5:20 a.m., the moon went goodnight so fast, I thought Margaret Wise Brown might have written about it in a children’s story.

Nothing. The eclipse got eclipsed by the clouds. Ugh. Show over.

Nothing I could do but just go home and process what I had.

So I have an incomplete eclipse. Which is here.

Oh, man, this would have been an incredible capture.

But it got thwarted by Mother Nature and a batch of clouds.

Oh, well. I tried. I gave it my best.

Now it’s time for me to get some sleep and hope that the five cans of Sugar Free Red Bull I drank to stay awake will wear off.