Blood Moon from my balcony

Tonight, I managed to get a crash course on the “M” setting of my camera. From the balcony, I managed to get a few shots of the “Blood Moon”. Please remember, I’m far from a professional photographer. In fact, I’m a few levels below “amateur”.

I think this is one of the best of the ones I took.

I think this is one of the best of the ones I took.

Clouds started to move in. Not sure why, but I thought made it somehow look better.

Clouds started to move in. Not sure why, but I thought they made it somehow look better.

Last one before the clouds took the view. Really struggling with the settings at this point (amateur here!), but managed to get it before it disappeared. This is the most ominous looking one of the lot too.

Last one before the clouds took the view. Really struggling with the settings at this point (amateur here!), but managed to get it before it disappeared. This is the most ominous looking one of the lot too.

Bloopers

I have a newfound respect for photographers of all skill levels everywhere.

Of course, no photo session is complete without the weird and wonderful screw ups. Well, before it started, I thought I’d dial in the settings by taking a few. Good thing too because I didn’t actually get any good ones until it was well into the eclipse. These are some of the best of the worst.

Apparently, there's a gadget called a "Tripod" which is quite handy for taking long exposure photos. I dug through years of detritus in the closet before I found mine.

Apparently, there’s a gadget called a “Tripod” which is quite handy for taking long exposure photos. I dug through years of detritus in the closet before I found mine.

Nope. It's at this point that I remembered I have a 200mm zoom lens. Back to ransacking the closet.

It’s at this point that I remembered I have a 200mm zoom lens. Back to ransacking the closet.

THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING! Back to playing with ISO and exposure settings.

THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING! Back to playing with ISO and exposure settings.

It's... something. It's at this point that finally figured out that ISO should stay at 1600 and exposure at 2-5 seconds max. The rest came out OK.

It’s… something. It’s at this point that finally figured out that ISO should stay at 1600 and exposure at 2-5 seconds max. The rest came out OK.

I know there are going to be countless photos like these all over the world, but I hope these were enjoyable as well. I don’t like the idea of taking a few digital photos and never looking at them ever again so I’m thinking of enlarging a few of these and maybe putting one up in my cabin when it’s finally finished.

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