Steve Case wrote:Couldn't our photographer aimed the camera up just a little bit?
I'm reminded of people who cut the heads off in their snapshots.
The moon was around 60 degrees altitude when the image was taken. Now also add lots more degrees for the halo itself and you are basically shooting overhead. To add insult to injury, one needs a multi-second exposure to capture the halo itself.
It took me about ten minutes to properly orient the tripod and camera so as to capture this image with the camera virtually pointing at zenith. The back two legs of the tripod where at the minimum possible length the tripod allows whereas the third leg pointing ahead was at its maximum extended position out. I also placed some pieces of rock for the front leg to sit upon so as to tilt the tripod overhead as much as possible. The Bogen tripod head was also inclined as far back as possible and at its maximum position until it came into contact with the tripod.
Once the proper angle has been finally acquired, I had to make sure the tripod with camera were absolutely still so that the six-second exposure could be taken without movement. After each attempted exposure, I had to tilt forward all of the gear so as to look at the result on the LCD screen to make sure both the framing and exposure were proper. I was not as much worried for the exposure itself since I have taken similar images before and had a good idea of a starting exposure (ex.
http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Lunar-Scenes-Halo.htm ).
Personally, I am very relieved I pulled this image off (vis a vis the above) given the extreme angle of the halo itself.
Anthony.
A Halo Around the Moon
