Moon Lighting

The following photo never happened:


That's the thing about taking a flash-photo in pitch darkness - it's a sure-fire way of getting everyone in a 'natural' pose, yet because everything looks so bright, it still gives a completely misleading record of the event.

Oh, but the surprise flash, if you're lucky, can make people laugh too...


What is accurate about these photos, is that they portray flatmate Dave as our leader that evening. While the rest of us were certainly interested in watching the total eclipse of the moon going on above us, and indeed keen to photograph it too (who wouldn't be?), the above picture also shows Dave clearly trouncing our feeble efforts in terms of professionalism.

Still, as the evening drew on, a great many laughs were had, and I realised that, rather than waste my precious 35mm film, I would be much better off just asking Dave for a copy of his best shot afterwards.

Remember that pesky blinding flashbulb? They were ready for it by the time Cathy got snapping...



Well it was becoming a long evening, so I stretched-out on the ground next to the tripod. What could go wrong with that?



I assume this is an alien.




At last, the final results are in..!


Cathy got this one, which I have to say shows what's happening pretty well, in much the same way that mine doesn't:


Yes, I cleverly took this handheld. I think I was standing there holding the camera still with the shutter open for... ooh... maybe 30 seconds? I've counted at least 36 moons there, which means I managed to briefly stand still at least 36 times. How many moons can you see?

But top prize must, unsurprisingly, go to experienced postcard photographer Dave for these last awesome two. By this point the moon was totally in shadow, illuminated only through the sunsets and sunrises ringing the planet Earth at the time.

Wow.