rcrhee
Super Wolf Blood Moon and the Space Needle, January 20, 2019
The January 20, 2019 Super Wolf Blood Moon rising over the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. January 20, 2019.
I love the challenge of combining astrological events and landscapes. It requires a truckload of planning (and a bit of trigonometry) and it is so, SO rewarding to see it come to life in the field right before your eyes. I also strongly believe that adding the sun, moon, or stars as a compositional element can result in something unique. Everyone here has seen a photo of the Space Needle, but hopefully this version that includes the January 20, 2019 total lunar eclipse is a little different.
I planned the shoot in advance using PhotoPills and Excel to line up the moon with the Space Needle and to confirm the angle of the moon from horizon would put it above the Space Needle if shooting from the ground looking up. For the base image, I shot the Space Needle at a low ISO for a clean foreground. As the moon moved into the Earth's shadow to enter the total eclipse phase while simultaneously aligning with the needle, I shot 5-8 images of the moon in burst mode at 1/2 a second at ISO 3200 (or ISO 6400 - I forget). In post, I stacked the multiple captures of the moon together to reduce high ISO noise and increase detail (this is a common astrophotography process, kind of a manual version of what what the new Sony A7R camera bodies do when they go into the super resolution pixel shift mode).
If interested, I have a tutorial on how to plan shots like these here: Blood Moon tutorial.
I've also made the spreadsheet I use to check angles in the process available here: Google Sheets
Super Wolf Blood Moon and the Space Needle, January 20, 2019
The January 20, 2019 Super Wolf Blood Moon rising over the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. January 20, 2019.
I love the challenge of combining astrological events and landscapes. It requires a truckload of planning (and a bit of trigonometry) and it is so, SO rewarding to see it come to life in the field right before your eyes. I also strongly believe that adding the sun, moon, or stars as a compositional element can result in something unique. Everyone here has seen a photo of the Space Needle, but hopefully this version that includes the January 20, 2019 total lunar eclipse is a little different.
I planned the shoot in advance using PhotoPills and Excel to line up the moon with the Space Needle and to confirm the angle of the moon from horizon would put it above the Space Needle if shooting from the ground looking up. For the base image, I shot the Space Needle at a low ISO for a clean foreground. As the moon moved into the Earth's shadow to enter the total eclipse phase while simultaneously aligning with the needle, I shot 5-8 images of the moon in burst mode at 1/2 a second at ISO 3200 (or ISO 6400 - I forget). In post, I stacked the multiple captures of the moon together to reduce high ISO noise and increase detail (this is a common astrophotography process, kind of a manual version of what what the new Sony A7R camera bodies do when they go into the super resolution pixel shift mode).
If interested, I have a tutorial on how to plan shots like these here: Blood Moon tutorial.
I've also made the spreadsheet I use to check angles in the process available here: Google Sheets