Since Ye Olde Photographer is now slightly better equipped for "astrophotography" than in 2010, he decided to attempt to capture something of the triple excitement of a blue moon, super moon, and lunar eclipse that occurred on 31 January 2018.

For this outing we used most of the gear used in 2017 to photograph the total solar eclipse. That being a Canon A-1 with FD 100-300 f/5.6 zoom lens and Canon FD 2X-B teleconverter (not necessarily a guaranteed match with the zoom). This was augmented by YOP's EOS 40D bearing an EF 70-300mm f/4-f/5.6 IS USM (with IS and auto-focus switched off). At the vertical angles (azimuth?) involved, we did not need the right angle finder attachments used previously. (That is good, as their tight eye relief makes them a bit tedious to use.)

We used Ilford FP-4 Plus in the A-1, but waited a few days to finish the roll (even though it was only 24 exposures). On the digital shots we used minimal post-processing, but cropped a bit to improve the centering and blow up the image a little bit.

Given the outdoor air temperature solidly below freezing at 15ºF (~9.4ºC), YOP was elated when the moon disappeared at the horizon and the morning sunrise began to illuminate the scene and he could go home and thaw out. The lunar track was further north of due west than YOP realized, so this site was not as ideal as expected. But it was mostly for naught anyway, as by the time the moon dipped near the horizon there was a band of clouds that obscured any chance of seeing the eclipse start. Well, glass half full: it proved even at his advanced age, YOP could still drag himself and his gear out at some cold and ghastly hour of the morning.

We finished the roll of film and found it pretty disappointing — maybe YOP has become too used to medium format negatives! We are placing a small selection across the bottom here for the little it is worth. (Note to Self: Next time use Tmax or Acros!)