Eclipse Timelapse- Second Attempt

Heard there was going to be an eclipse, so I broke out the 5D and tried my very best to catch it.

This is one frame every 30 seconds, starting around 2:30am and going for about an hour and a half, using a 105mm lens.

Timelapse is complicated because you really can't recompose in the middle of a shot- you have to plan it out ahead of time, lock off the tripod, and cross your fingers. Or build a motion control rig- maybe next time...

The moon was much smaller at 3:30am than it was earlier in the night, so I zoomed all the way in, and the moon was still tiny. This reduces the frame size which is why it kept falling out of the frame. Luckily I caught it, and for lack of anything better to do, recomposed the shot.

I also made a big no-no by changing the exposure toward the end (when it gets redder), which kind of killed the subtlety of the eclipse... but after seeing this, I have a lot more faith in the low end of the 5D's exposure range.

Next time I think I'll try shooting earlier in the night, when the moon is huge, so I can use a wider lens. It will probably take a few more tests to get a feel for the passage of the moon, so I can frame it better.

I need to make friends with an astronomer, and practice some more before the next eclipse...