Getting lucky with the last lunar eclipse for the next three years

By John CarrDecember 15, 2011

6:31 a.m. of the second Saturday of December. It was to be the exact time of a full lunar eclipse in Portland, OR. Fog, temperature inversion and cold weather greeted me as I stepped out on the deck the previous evening. Placed the camera on a sturdy tripod, set the remote control to function in mirror-up mode, and spent some time experimenting with various settings. The downtown lights and the full moon made good subjects. Checked the weather forecast for Saturday morning and it didn’t look good for a clear view of the eclipse.

Jumped (well, maybe not “jumped”) out of bed around 6:00 a.m. There was lots of fog in the valley. With some trepidation I grabbed the tripod/camera and walked out on the deck. Amazing! There was the full moon almost at full eclipse. I started taking photos and got several at the peak of the eclipse. The moom was shimmering with an orange/reddish cast. Not three minutes later the fog had covered up the moon. Sometimes you just get lucky.