Part 1: A day in Døråldalen and Rondane
Part 2: The waiting game
Part 3: The lunar eclipse
Part 4: The sunrise

Frosty morning

I was comfortably asleep in my sleeping bag when I heard some ruckus. Jon was up starting the fire. “Hi, good morning”. I said. He probably thought I was asleep in the car because he looked around probably wondering where that voice came from. He spotted me on the ground and said: “There you are, it’s started”. Referring to the eclipse. I looked at the moon, still in my sleeping bag. I could see eclipse taking form.

Fumbling in my sleeping bag, I found my phone and checked the time. It was three in the morning. Hmm, a bit early I thought. Based on what I’ve read online the day before, the eclipse shouldn’t have started before an hour later. Oh well, I thought.

I reached my hand out of my bag, felt the frost on the bag’s fabric. It was almost two hours until it would be a total eclipse, so I wasn’t in any rush to get out of the sleeping bag. Too cold I thought.
After some contemplating, I got out of my bag somewhat unwillingly, but I had to get out sometime.

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

I took a snapshot to check out the condition more clearly. The sky was clear, except around the moon …
Jon got the fire started eventually. I say eventually because he had some fun with the gasoline we had used to boost the fire with. I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say, gasoline and open flames are exciting and equally dangerous ;).

Red Moon – The lunar eclipse

We woke up the others and ate a quick breakfast around the campfire before we walked down to the pond where we were last night.

waiting …

Looking at the moon, still diffused by the clouds. Not good I thought. The more the shadow of the earth ate the moon, the thicker the cloud seemed to get. Could barely see that there was an eclipse now. I took a test picture. Checking the exposure. Like Yoda would have said: “dark, it is”.

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

The time was 4:10. Around 40 minutes from a total. The sky was red. At first, I thought it was because of the eclipse, but then I remembered that Rondablikk was on the other side of Rondane. Rondablikk is a small place with lots of cabins and some hotels. I could have corrected the white balance, but I felt that this worked well, considering the theme. The others played around with light painting while I took this picture.

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

The clouds in front of the moon didn’t seem to care about some photographers in the cold. So I tried some other exposures since I already was here.
I got lucky with a shooting star passing by. I tried to make a wish – a wish that the clouds would disappear. No such luck …

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

No moon

At 4:53 there was no moon. The eclipse was total. It was as dark it is when there is no moon. The only light was from the clouds, lit by the lights in Rondablikk.

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

4:53 in the morning. The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane is total.

Since there was no more light, I played around with different shutter speeds. The next three photographs are taken with different shutter speeds, but the white balance is the same. Notice how the colors change over time.

8 minute exposure

5:05 in the morning. 8 minute exposure

16 minute exposure

5:15 in the morning. 16 minute exposure

30 second exposure

5:35 in the morning. 30 second exposure

The return of the moon. it was still a good hour before sunrise. The light from the sun reflecting the atmosphere lit up the clouds in red.

The lunar eclipse in Døråldalen Rondane

The night is no more. Hello morning.

Dawn in Døråldalen

Dawn in Døråldalen

After a rather misty eclipse, the dawn was upon us. I can say that we got lucky with the morning light …
Part 4: The sunrise.