Well that was a fun morning!

I mentioned in my other posts this week that I had gone out on Sunday to catch an early view of the nearly full beaver moon rising as I was unsure if I would have a chance to capture it in the days ahead. With a total lunar eclipse occurring as the moon set (and the sun rose) this morning, I made sure to plan ahead with predicted tracks and lighting and clouds. I had my gear ready to go and set an alarm for 5am in the hopes of getting to see and capture the moon as it entered totality.

I drove to my chosen spot on Foster Street and found that other photographers in town had the same plan as I did. There were four tripods set up when I arrived and the moon appeared as a dark red orb as it entered into Earth’s shadow. I had time for a few images of this red moon before the lunar eclipse reached totality. That part was great to watch but impossible to shoot as the moon disappeared as it descended in the morning sky.

I held out hope that a red moon would reappear near Abbot Hall but it never did as haze and/or light interfered with the tail end of the eclipse.

If you saw my story this morning, that was my first shot of the morning in a vertical orientation given the distance between the moon and Abbot Hall. This shot was captured a few minutes later and I finally had a chance to work on it after finishing up in my office.

The best part was when I zoomed in and saw the name of the boat at the bottom of the frame – Bright Stars which made for an easy title decision balanced against the dark moon in the morning sky.