No, it’s not the total solar eclipse coming to some parts of the country in April, but our determined writer/photographer is back with a magical look at a lunar eclipse in eastern Tennessee.
Photo Above: The total eclipsed moon sets behind the Holston Mountain fire tower in Carter County.
Photos Courtesy of Ryan Rice.
As I travel around our beautiful region of Northeast Tennessee/Southwest Virginia, I am always on the lookout for photography opportunities. Specifically, an interesting subject to photograph in front of the moon. To do this you need to be far away from the subject and use a telephoto lens. This will make the object look large compared to the moon. This is difficult in a mountainous region. You cannot easily get far enough away from an object on the horizon. It basically requires the subject to be on the ridge of a mountain top.
My friend, Jon Bradley, and I determined the fire tower atop Holston Mountain in Carter County, Tennessee, would be our target. It is located in the very scenic valley of Stoney Creek, a small community in Northeast Tennessee, which happens to be where I grew up. The fire tower is iconic to the community as it is visible as you drive down Highway 91 and has always been one of my favorite spots in our region.
With the use of the Planit Pro app, we were able to plan this moon photo and determine exactly where we needed to be at exactly what time. We also had to track down the property owner of this spot to get permission to use his land. It was an interesting phone call to ask someone you’ve never met if you can use his fields in the middle of the night to attempt a photograph like this. He graciously agreed!
We set out for our first attempt early one morning, hiking out to our spot and setting up all our gear. In the end, we were thwarted by clouds. We did not give up. The moon travels in a slightly different path through the sky each night so the location we found will only work once every couple of months.
We kept watching and planning in the app and finally found another day to attempt, and it happened to coincide with a full lunar eclipse. This seemed too good to be true! I contacted the landowner again to let him know of our next attempt. This was a cold November night/morning. Being 2.25 miles from the fire tower, we were unable to see the tower against the night sky. We had to hope all our planning and the app were correct and wait. We spent about three chilly, mostly pre-dawn hours in the field.
We had to use star tracker devices, which when aligned to the North Star rotate with the Earth, to keep the moon in camera frame. With a telephoto lens and a stationary camera, the moon moves through the frame in 20-30 seconds due to the Earth’s rotation. So, a star tracker is necessary when doing this long of a photoshoot of the moon. Also, it allowed us to take long exposures of the moon while it was in full eclipse phase and not blur it.
While the moon was in full eclipse phase it was barely visible to the naked eye. Long exposure allows the eclipsed moon to be brightly visible in the photograph.
In the end, we were rewarded by being able to capture this moment during a lunar eclipse.
The story above first appeared in our March / April 2024 issue.
