The Lunar Non-eclipse

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I was hoping for clear skies to shoot my 11th total lunar eclipse, finally with a good tracker. It was lovely clear in the late afternoon but the satellite map showed clouds moving in from the coast, and so did the forecast. The Bonanza is still in the engine overhaul shop and I had thought about driving somewhere with the tracker rig but it looked like about KS would be the best bet. So I decided to take a chance here. The moon topped the hills at 9 pm and clouds were already moving in. There was a brief 22-degree halo, barely visible. I grabbed an iPhone shot and ran for the backup camera but the halo was gone and thicker clouds soon swamped the sky. By 9:30 (two hours before totality) there was barely a dim dot in the clouds and by morning we had almost an inch of rain. I hope somebody here got to see and photograph it!

Specific Feedback

All comments welcome!

Technical Details

iPhone 16 Pro, Pro Camera app, fumbling to find a place to stabilize it. I aimed it as close to level as I could and still get enough sky, to minimize keystone distortion, and cropped the extra canvas from the bottom. The image quality is abysmal even with this latest camera – just a record shot.


Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
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Oddly enough, we had partial clouds up here, Diane, and my wife went out and saw it (I just can’t get up at night).

A nice image of the night landscape/skyscape regardless of the lack of eclipse.