Not the ISS this morning

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Stewart
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There was a bright overhead pass of the ISS scheduled for 06:30 this morning. By chance I woke up at 06:00 needing a pee. I could see through the bathroom window that the moon was shining brightly, so after I'd finished there I pulled on some clothes and went downstairs.

I set up the camera and lens on the tripod, dialled in the settings I'd need for the ISS, and at about 06:20 I went out into the garden. But I immediately saw that we didn't have the clear, cloudless skies that had been promised by yesterday's forecast. Instead, the cloud cover was about 95%! The moon was actually shining though the clouds. No chance of seeing the ISS.

Oh well, since I was there I decided to take a "souvenir" shot of the moon. Maybe the clouds would make it look atmospheric. So I set about reconfiguring the camera for the moon rather than the ISS - aperture priority with spot metering instead of fully manual, autofocus instead of manual, etc - which was quite slow work in the dark with cold hands.

I'd just finished and was lining up the moon when the clouds parted and I saw the ISS! But by the time I'd reset the camera again, and swung it around to point it in the right direction, it had gone into the clouds again! Grrr!

So anyway I decided to photograph the moon after all. The clouds parted for a bit, so I had a good (though brief) sighting. I'm quite happy with the result, though I would definitely have preferred to get the ISS.

Canon 7D Mk II, Canon 500mm f/4 L IS II USM with Extender 2x III, 35 images stacked in Registax. 26231964_1994165563942012_5800426346665454118_o.jpg
 
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