Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse at Viera Wetlands

Before I left Albany, New York to travel to Tampa, Florida, my daughter texted to ‘take pics of the supermoon’.  Rather than say, ‘sure,’ I rebelled inside because the media attention to these unusual moon and sun events is exceeding annoying.

In my world, to make this proper celestial image requires planning and research. Then going to the location with the appropriate glass and waiting for your shot.  It is a lot of fun to make the final image that matches your vision.  However, this time I was disinterested and decided to blow it off. 

Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

The gates to the Viera Wetlands, Fl typically open at the 7:00 Am.  However, a bunch of us dawn photographers will head over at 6:30 AM hoping for earlier access (if the gatekeeper shows).  This morning a car pulled up, and a mother/daughter jumped out. They ran up the long driveway embankment which connects the parking lot to the wetlands roadways.  I quizzically noticed and watched all this happen as I was setting up my Nikon D5|200-400 w/tc1.7 on my RRS Tripod.

It was at that moment, as I was watching the pair on the upper embankment that I saw what the excitement was about.  Here we were, just a few of us, watching the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse unfold before our eyes.  Additionally, directly behind me, the sun was rising with its gentle rays to front lighting the scene.  There was no way I could have scripted or planned this.  Now as a photographer it was time to capture the moment as I perceived it.

Focus Stacking with the Nikon 200-400 f/4

I was about 40-70 feet away below and behind the mother|daughter in a small gully, so I was shooting upwards to them.  This was a perfect time for a focus stacking image.  My first shot framed and focused on the daughter. The second picture was framed and focused on the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse.  I went back and forth using this routine for various focal lengths.  During the last couple of images of the moon, a small group of Ibis flew through the frame, which just added to the moment.

Later in the digital darkroom, I was able to align, focus stack and mask the original Raw files.  The resulting composite image is of those few serendipity moments at the Viera Wetlands.  The height distortion of the girl is due to my position and the long lens glass, which I kind of like.

Final Thoughts

You will encounter unpredictability moments when you are in front of something interesting.

“Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.”

Timing of the Jan 2018 supermoon