Last night there was a lunar eclipse. It was very cool.
8Last night I was chatting briefly with @jkawaguchi letting her know that her coffee was about to arrive and she let me know there was a lunar eclipse happening. I’m in the DC area and we’ve had a lot of storms recently. I went outside and there was a lot of cloud cover but tried to get a picture with my phone. It sucked. 
So, I grabbed my big boy camera and tried again… forgetting that I didn’t remember how to use it in the dark. Heh. It took a moment for a break in the clouds to occur and I randomly adjusted settings hoping to get a good shot. And then I stopped and enjoyed the moment. Eclipses are kinda cool 
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I had it marked on my calendar but unfortunately it was totally overcast here so it was a no-go…
Nice pics BTW
@chienfou My camera body/lens combo was pretty much built for softball and not moon shots
And I had to take those all handheld. A tripod would have likely helped a bit 
@capnjb
Evidently your telephoto has a pretty wide aperture. Good glass makes all the difference
@chienfou I’ve got lots of lenses, my widest aperture is a f/1.4 50mm prime lens. Super shallow depth of frame. But it’s pretty much mostly for portraits.
This was with my only L-glass lens. It’s a Canon f/2.8 70-200. It can stop time. Which is likely why I was able to get that shot without a tripod. I just hope my wife never asks what I paid for it
It is professional grade. It’s taken a lot of great kiddo softball pictures 
@capnjb
Yep. That’s a car payment right there.
@chienfou More like a mortgage payment
But it will last through several camera bodies 
@capnjb
that’s the beauty of standardized mounts across a platform…
@chienfou I’ve been looking at the R series platform, but thankfully there is an adapter for that. I’ve got a tidy sum tied up in glass that I can’t really walk away from. Heh.
@capnjb
I have fallen behind in my Canon knowledge. Is the R mount significantly better somehow?
@chienfou It’s mirrorless.
@chienfou And I’m glad I got my camera out last night for the eclipse as it was still sitting on the bar. I just got back from the store and there were two big bucks about 15’ from the back door. I thought they would bolt the moment I opened the door. But they hung around long enough to let me get a photo
Heh. Just stay away from the roses 
@chienfou The big guy just showed up again. I tried to sneak out onto the deck without alerting the dog because she is like a missile if she sees a deer
@capnjb @chienfou
Yeah I was gonna say a house payment. Beautiful camera. I’d love to own one someday. Now I’m stuck with my iPhone.
@chienfou @Star2236 Phones are convenient and can take good photos. I have an iPhone too. I got my wife a Google Pixel something or other and I’m not sure if it’s the lens or the software, but it takes really good pictures. Better than my iPhone at least. But sometimes I need to break the Canon out to get the right shot. I’ve got 7-8 different lenses (and a handful of lens filters) and they all have different purposes. I finally understand why professionals carry two cameras over their shoulders at an event. When you need to capture an image in the moment there is no time to swap lenses. Both cameras they carry do very specific, different things
Sadly, I’ve just started leaning too much on my phone. I love photography and really need to get back into it. I’ve got three GoPros, my Canon set up and a drone with a 4K camera that can capture some wild shit. You’ve probably noticed but I frequently add images to my posts. And that is because I type like shit and a picture really is worth a thousand words
Getting a Halloween feel from the cloudy picture
@jkawaguchi I kind of see a nebula/galaxy
Like a fool, I was standing out in my driveway/boulevard/street from about 10:50 until 11:30, snapping a bunch of pictures. We had near perfect conditions. My “good” camera got a couple cool snaps as far as I could tell using the preview in eyepiece, but I didn’t have time to upload to my computer so that I could share.
@tohar1 Post them if you get the time
@sillyheathen
doesn’t look real!! Great shot.
@chienfou @sillyheathen
That’s so pretty!
I’m envious of people who get to see these lunar eclipses with the red hue. Here it’s always just gray, and “dirty looking” as my sister said. I guess because we’re at a high altitude & don’t have as much atmosphere to bend the light rays.
This isn’t mine but from one of my favorite Louisiana photographers. It’s pretty stunning.
@sillyheathen
Gorgeous
Whenever I would taken photos of the moon with my phone, I would only get a glowing orb with no detail. In preparation for the lunar eclipse, I googled how to take clear photos of the moon with my particular Samsung phone. Lo and behold, I discovered a secret moon mode. While it’s not fancy pants camera quality, at least I can see craters and other details. Progress.
@heartny
This reminds me of the controversy surrounding Samsung’s supposed use of AI to enhance lunar pictures…
@heartny
why didn’t I think of that. Wouldn’t had mattered anyway. I’m up north and we clear viewing with clouds passing by up until about 10-15 mins before peak and then it was cloudy the rest of the night. I got some cool cloud pics but never saw the full lunar eclipse.