Lunar Eclipse Viewed from North Borneo on 10th December 2011

This was my first attempt to capture the Eclipse of the moon. The Total Lunar Eclipse on December 10, 2011 will be visible in its entirety from where I was in Sabah, Malaysia.  These were pictures taken from the front yard of my home using a Nikon D7000 and Tokina AT-X 340 AF-II 100-300 F4 which translates to 160-450mm on a DX camera.  The sky was clear with patches of low altitude but fast moving clouds and steady westerly winds.

 

  A quarter eclipse - exposure taken from the bright part of the moon at 8.52pm.

Half eclipse - Exposure taken from the bright part of the moon at 9.24pm

Half Eclipse - Exposure taken from the darkened part of the moon at 9.21pm

Full Eclipse with the darkened moon with a reddish glow at 10.30pm.

Insects in My Garden

I purchased my used Tokina ATX 340 100-300 f4 zoom lens online and had it for 2 weeks now.  I read so much good reviews about this discontinued lens.  This lens full frame FX lens which means on my DX it is equivalent to 150-450mm f4 lens. It is heavy and built like a tank a far cry from my Nikkor AF 75-240 f4.5-5.6D plastics which came bundled with my old Nikon F60 camera. Optics wise, the following shots which is not photo-shopped or in anyway enhanced will bear witness.

Today I made another attempt at photographing that elusive black and blue spot butterfly and another one brownish-orange around my garden.  I have been standing still among the flower pots and plants for a minute or so with camera in hand, when I saw a pair of dragon fly flying about.  Took a few hand held shots and non-flash but I was disappointed with the results as the shadowed portion of the insect was too dark.  Except for these two shots

 With exposure compensation, I got the exposure underneath the body right but I lost the details on the over exposed leaf surface.  But nevertheless I like the shadow from the dragon fly.

 

 The shots were better after I used the tripod and fill in flash with a lambency diffuser.

 

Just before I decided I had enough shot, suddenly the butterfly I was waiting for came. The butterfly was a difficult subject because any sudden movement would cause it to fly away. This where the advantage of the long Tokina lens which I can take shots of the butterfly from 2 meters away.

 

The matt black wing against a bright sunlight was a difficult shot to make. I had to increase exposure to get the details on the wings which cause the greens to fade.

Well, one thing I am very sure now.. this is one lens which I intend to keep.