Total Lunar Eclipse

[Roger Clark]

It was a very dark eclipse, which posed a challenge to image as the Moon was so dark.
500 mm f/4 L IS at f/4, ISO 1600, 3 exposures of 0.4 seconds each, stacked in photoshop with 33 % opacity (the stack reduced noise). Then sharpened with Richardson-Lucy image deconvolution (5x5 box, 8 iterations). The 3 exposures were needed because one longer exposure would have been blurred by rotation of the Earth. Note the many stars in the background.

Roger

[Harshad Barve]

I don't have any expertise in such image Rogers but I must say this is stunner :cheers::cheers::cheers:
TFS

[Nick Palmieri]

Really sweet image Roger. I like the inclusion of stars.

[Bill Jobes]

That is just beautiful, Roger !

The color and clarity of the moon, combined with the starry background create a memorable record of the event.

The absence of noise at that ISO makes me envious ! :D

[Myer Bornstein]

Excellent image. I would have love to seen the eclipse but it has been snowing here

[Robert Amoruso]

Looks good to me.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Roger, Nice detail with wonderful color. The stars add interest to the black void along with good placement in the frame. Very nicely handled!!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Roger,
You crushed this one!!! Fantastic on all counts and thanks for the PP'ing info too! :cheers::cheers::cheers:

[Nancy Bell]

Awesome!! And the inclusion of the stars is certainly over the top! Clouds and snow up here in northern Colorado last night. Glad you had clear skies. In fact, I was looking specifically to see what you would post today:).

[Andrew McLachlan]

Awesome Roger :cheers:

[Jay Gould]

Rodger, you nailed it!

Camera?

[Bill Jobes]

Roger, where were you located when taking the eclipse photographs?

Did that location have any effect on the color you saw, or was that hue seen in all locales ?

[Doug Brown]

Well done Roger! I've been in LA since Saturday and we haven't seen the sun or the moon since I arrived!

[Ian McHenry]

Roger
Excellent work with stunning result.
Thanks for sharing technique.
If manually underexposed and 3 images merged wouldn't that leave end result also underexposed?
Thanks: Ian Mc

[Andrew Merwin]

Superlative image.

[Roger Clark]

Roger, where were you located when taking the eclipse photographs?

Did that location have any effect on the color you saw, or was that hue seen in all locales ?

Bill,

I made the image in Colorado, the Denver metro area, from my back deck. The Moon was close to overhead. The color is light transmitted and refracted into the shadow through the atmosphere. It is red much like the light at sunset is red (and for the same reasons). So the color is the same for everyone observing the eclipse (assuming local atmospheric conditions don't modify it further). My sky was very clear so the atmosphere had little impact on the color.

Roger

[Roger Clark]

Roger
Excellent work with stunning result.
Thanks for sharing technique.
If manually underexposed and 3 images merged wouldn't that leave end result also underexposed?
Thanks: Ian Mc

Ian,
Each exposure was properly exposed, but at ISO 1600 the image was noisy. I always take multiple exposures in case a heat wave blurs the image. I had 4 exposures and I combined 3 to reduce the noise. There are a couple of ways to do that. I brought each image into photoshop and copied each image into a new image, with each in their own layer. I then registered the 3 images. On the top two layers, I changed the opacity to 33%. I then flattened the image.

Another way would be to do image math and simply average.

Roger

[Roger Clark]

Thanks all. I've missed many astro events, due to either being on travel, or cloudy. It's nice to have seen this one.

Roger

[Ron Bernstein]

Awesome, and thanks for the tip on avoiding blurring!

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Hey Roger
Another great image...

I need to ask Santa for a 500 mm f/4

Jerry

[Bob Malbon]

The stars and the exposure with the curve of the Moon - WOW!
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