The alarm went off at 01:45 and the clock announced the outside temp was 8 degrees. I had setup the rig, Z 9 / 800f5.6AFS, the night before so all I had to do was step out on the deck and photograph the Blood Moon, the total eclipse. I could see the moonlight outside so I was delighted. I stepped out and looked up to see the clouds ripping by. I looked at the time, I had ten minutes until the eclipse would start. As the time got closer the clouds got thicker and thicker. Then the eclipse started and what you see is what I saw. I few minutes later, I could no longer see the shadow of the earth as the moon became just a glow behind the clouds. I decided to stay up until 03:16 when totality was supposed to occur. I bundled up at 03:05 and went outside, it was really dark. I was hopeful until I looked up. There wasn’t even a glow from the moon, there were just a huge wall of clouds.
Photography has no guarantees, none! You can own the best gear, have the best technique, be on top of your craft and be in the right place at the right time but that doesn’t mean you’ll come back with the photo you want. It’s at times like this and I have had hundreds of them, I think about those words by James Taylor. “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.” Amen