Hot take: My attempt to capture Jupiter's moons ended with a lens cap still on

I was so focused on tracking that I didn't realize until I reviewed the pitch-black images. Ever have a moment where your own excitement sabotaged the whole session?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.jamie1mo ago

During the last lunar eclipse, I was so pumped to get a time-lapse that I left the ISO at 12800 from a previous indoor shoot. Every single frame was completely blown out, just a white blob where the moon should've been. I basically documented the world's brightest light bulb instead of a celestial event. Tbh, I felt like such a rookie, but at least the memory card got a good workout.

rubyb211mo ago

Spent an entire blue hour shoot once with my lens cap on, absolutely convinced my camera had died. Sometimes we get so excited we forget to check the most obvious things, right? My camera probably thought it was taking the world's most consistent black portrait.

king.lisa1mo ago

Actually, the ISO isn't the only culprit here. During a lunar eclipse, the moon is much dimmer, so you'd want to drop the ISO way down, maybe to 400 or 800, and adjust shutter speed accordingly. Blown-out shots usually come from overexposure across all settings, not just high ISO. It's a common mistake when switching between drastically different lighting conditions.