Maui's View of The Blood Moon!!!

There have been a few eclipses over my lifetime, but they all seemed to be happening at midnight or later.  Being up that late is not my cup of tea ... but here on Maui, everything came together at 9:00 pm ... and I was ready with my new camera.  Definitely NOT blowing my horn, but as photography goes, these shots are the hardest to get.  So last night when I went out with my camera, I really wasn't expecting to get anything I would actually post!!!

The first challenge was to figure out where the moon was!!!  I found it playing peek-a-boo through the clouds and swaying palm trees ... the wind was up to about 30 mph.  NOT a good setting for long exposure photography.  The wind vibrates the camera too much.  The act of pushing the button to TAKE the picture vibrates the camera too much.

Once spotted, I staked out my spot across the street so I would have nice palm trees at the edges.  The wind came up so much I thought my camera would come crashing to the ground.  Time to move to the leeward side of my condo complex.  As the clouds came and went, they made for gorgeous exposures!!

And then the eclipse began!!!

And then I was accosted by some people who wanted to know why I was in their front yard!!!  When I pointed to the moon, they were amazed ... having no idea this was going on!!

A couple of times the clouds fully covered the eclipse, blocking out all view.  I held my ground though, hoping and praying they would pass and I would get that GREAT image (at least for me)!!

I had not taken my biggest lens ... too heavy ... but the 300mm did a pretty nice job!  Luckily I DID have my remote shutter device, which I always carry and never use.  Today was the day!!!  As people walked by they asked if I could send them images.  Their iPhones weren't working so well.  

By now I'm so excited I can't stand myself!!!  When you look through the lens, you can see the curvature of the moon with the suns glare on the far side peaking around the edge!!  Freezing and uncomfortable from standing for almost three hours, I'm glued to the spot and I snap image after image!!!  The wind blew wispy clouds through the frame occasionally, but for the most part it stayed clear.

It was a LONG night!!  I was so excited about uploading the images I couldn't sleep!!  This is the first time I have ever caught anything this cool on film ... well not film, but you know what I mean!!!  This has been the best trip EVER to Maui!!!  

They say there will be an eclipse every six months or so for the next two years!!!  YAY!!!  More chances to get awesome images!!!