Shadow of the Earth

There are some things in this world that you should make every effort to see. Even if you have to brave frigid temperatures to do so.

The lunar eclipse of last week was one of those things.

You all know me, so I'm sure you've been expecting this post for a week now. I, of course, couldn't resist trying to take some pictures of the eclipse. Mind you, this was no easy task. It went down a little something like this:

*driving home from a lovely dinner I'd had with my co-workers
In catching a glimpse of the moon while pulling into my alleyway I thought to myself "Oh look! The lunar eclipse has started! I should get some pictures of that!".

I rushed upstairs and took my camera and zoom lens out of the bag. At this point I realized...I didn't have a tripod. "No worries!" I thought, "I'll just run out and hold my breath while I take the shot." Yes, I was purposefully neglecting the fact that the zoom lens magnifies the slightest movement and that there would be NO way for me to hold still enough. Regardless, I ran down and took a few of these shots:


*oh but look at that beautiful beautiful lens flare! Yes. I know I have a problem.

Now to be fair, I also didn't have the shutter speed set correctly. I had never tried to take pictures of the moon before. That sucker puts out a LOT of light! Anyway, I quickly realized that even dialing up the shutter speed was not going to give me the sharpest picture I could get. So upstairs I went. I was on a quest. There HAD to be something in my apartment that would take the place of a tripod.

I looked at empty cardboard boxes (not tall or sturdy enough), a stool (really not tall enough), a broom handle (hey, a monopod is better than nothing), and a folding chair (I was getting desperate). Then, low and behold, some little voice in my head spoke up and said "YO! Dude. You have a ladder. A lovely four foot ladder." And I rejoiced.

I grabbed said ladder and one of those boxes (to prop under the front legs of the ladder so I could get the proper angle) and tromped back downstairs. All the strange looks I got from people driving by (I had to stand near the street in the front of my building...and later even IN the street) were worth these pictures:











Sadly, I don't have the equipment that would have allowed me to take a picture of the total eclipse. This was the closest I could get. Ah well. Maybe in another two years.