Total Lunar Eclipse December 2010

Lunar Eclipse December 2010I was up nice and early today in the freezing conditions, even with a really bad cold to try and capture the total lunar eclipse . I put on several layers and headed out with my new Canon 550d camera on a tripod with a remote cable attached and my 300mm lens and a very large lens hood to try and keep the dew off of the lens.

A few minutes later and I was at a clearing off of the main road, so I could get the full horizon. I started taking a few photos, and then went for the new feature of Full HD videos on the 550d, which when I came home I used Windows Live Movie Maker to make the movie up and put it on YouTube.

Lunar EclipseI could see the moon clearly to begin with but once it was at totality I never saw it again as the low clouds covered the moon up. I began shooting at about 7.20am and finished around 7.45am GMT but even that short time was enough.

I was not that happy with the images, as even with a 300mm lens the moon still really looks small, I think you need a 600mm lens or a 2.0x converter if just using an SLR, but ideally you really need an 80mm refractor joined to the SLR to get a good image. Unfortunately I don’t get a good view of the western horizon with my permanent set up, but then again with the moon being at about 5 degrees above the horizon the local houses would have also stopped me using my telescope.

View the Lunar Eclipse YouTube video here.

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