Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

Being an admirer of All Things Moon, I, of course, knew that this weekend was going to involve one of the most stunning (and ominous!) sights known to man, that is, a total lunar eclipse. I also knew that the conditions were going to be good: mild weather, few clouds. This made this event rather different from its precursor that I photographed last October.

Unfortunately, I did not have the time to locate an aesthetically pleasing vantage point to record the Moon rise, which in my part of the North American continent coincided with a partial eclipse. This made the Moon resemble its own crescent, though much brighter and seemingly larger than one would look. 

The proverbial lemonade out of lemons ended up looking like this:

August Supermoon

One of the drawbacks of living in a northern mountainous paradise is the lack of cultural events on par with the City. (It is likely that I've mentioned this fact once...or a dozen times before!)

Tonight, I attended a Mozart-oriented concert—a welcome event—but had to leave during the intermission.

How dare I?

If you pay attention to the seasons and natural events, you've probably guessed by now.

This August full Moon happens to be the so-called Supemoon due to its proximity to the earth. The latter means that on a cloudless summer evening like tonight, these conditions create the perfect photographing opportunity for lunatics like me. And I'm always punctual, even (especially) for the Moon.

Here is the partial Moonrise sequence: from playing hide-and-seek behind the blue mountain ribbons to nuclear yellow and, finally, reigning over the entire horizon.

Supermoon!

The solstice and the supermoon? It's been a magical kind of a weekend.

In that spirit, the supermoon should be met with a glass of wine (red, dry, preferably Georgian--the usual) and Mussorgsky's bewitching Night on the Bald Mountain (or an excellent contemporary Japanese rock equivalent). 

The greater Pacific Northwest is a bit of a trickster when it comes to its ever-changing weather conditions. But, at the last moment, the thick cloud cover over "Twin Peaks" parted, and the town's residents were left with the kind of a sunset display of light and color that could challenge fireworks. 

Then, as the sun departed, bits and pieces of the moon emerged and hid behind the rapidly moving clouds. Just as quickly, it seemed to rise higher and higher, as I adjusted my tripod repeatedly, until it left the clouds altogether.

I don't know about the size, but that reported 30% brightness increase, as it appears to our eyes, was certainly noticeable. And, whereas a romantic (!) part of me wished that I opted to meet the moon up on the local mountain--perhaps to the howling of its wolves--ultimately, I am quite content with photographing it from my balcony to the comforting murmur of a warm, wrinkly basset snoring away on the couch.

P.S. The moon-beneath-the-clouds photos were shot at 3200 ISO, hence the grain (but you knew that already).