Alethea Kontis and I took a few days in the middle of our storm-chasing trip for a mini writing retreat during the lull in storms. We found a neat little Airbnb in Lead, South Dakota. And since the night was clear on May 15, we figured we should check out the total lunar eclipse of the “flower moon.”
We found a spot high on a hill above a cemetery where we could see the full moon rise over the next ridge, above the trees and among the stars. We watched totality obscure the moon in a ruddy orange.
I did a simple wide-angle timelapse with one of my Nikon cameras. I wished I’d gotten out my Big Bertha lens and done a telephoto shot. Don’t photographers always think of what they should’ve done? Frankly, we had kind of a casual approach to the eclipse. We really just wanted to enjoy the event as it happened, and it was beautiful indeed.
Total lunar eclipse as seen in Lead, South Dakota. Chris Kridler, ChrisKridler.com