When I first got my Tamron 70-300mm lens one of the first things I did was set up a tripod in my front yard and shot the moon. They were not the best photos, but they weren’t bad. What was impressive was the amount of detail I could see from so far away. It was an exciting moment for me. However, there are so many lunar photos out there that I couldn’t see much use for the images, print or otherwise, so my excitement waned (pardon the pun) and I haven’t taken photos of the moon in a long time.
Last night found me in my front yard again, huddled in a bad mixture of clothing that made me look like some kind of reject from Northern Exposure. ( I loved that damn show) But I was comfortable sitting on the tail of my husbands pickup truck- and with tripod at the ready I was more prepared than I had been previously. This time I had gone online and printed some photography tips, approximate times for the event, and weather conditions. So I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t see much, if anything at all. And I knew the images were likely to be standard “moon’ photos. But I loved the idea that I’d be possibly photographing the first Total Lunar Eclipse to fall on Winter Solstice since 1638 – - an event that won’t be repeated again until 2094. Not that you’d be able to tell that bit of info from the photos, but I’d know. 
I did a test shot or two, to get my setting range right. I was fairly happy with the results considering my insignificant little lens.
As the event time neared, so the clouds began to thicken. Yet I manged to catch some pretty good shots though the passing ‘windows’ in the clouds.
So far my experience with the event was looking pretty good, and I had begun to allow myself a sliver of hope, and was starting to feel some twinges of downright excitement when suddenly the cloud-cover got so thick that the moon and any sign of starry sky at all simply disappeared.
I stayed awake for an hour after that, checking often in hopes that my luck would improve. My dear husband kept me company during my vigil, playing scrabble with me between my jaunts outside and peering with me hopefully at the gloomy Heavens. Finally when the clouds did begin to disperse, I could see the moon beginning to wax white in a crescent again, and knew I’d have to be content with my early photos.
Was it worth it? You bet. I learned some things, I have some new gear on my wish list, and I had some fun … both with my photography and in scrabble. I’ll chalk it up to experience and a nice evening to remember!
