The past few weeks have been filled with fog, which is great as an indication of timely snowfall, but not so much if you want to photograph the Moon. Since December's full Moon has been obscured by such snow-filled clouds, I bring you a fairy-tale-like Moon from earlier in the month.
Moonrise at Sunset
Sometimes, the Moon is so good to me, and I'm not sure what I've done to deserve it!
Having read that, you're smirking, I know. In fact, you're likely thinking, "Crazy Moon lady!"
But it's true.
I have considerably less time to run around with my Pentax nowadays, and much of what you see on this blog and my social networks was shot with a smartphone. Indeed, many wonderful things can be done with newer smartphones photographically, not to mention the fact that the limitations they provide may help in finding creative solutions.
Yet, when it comes to certain subjects, those limitations are just that. One of the most obvious ones is the Moon. Using a telephoto or at least a macro lens provides the necessary detail. Then there is the obvious number of other light-related functions: from shooting on bulb exposure at the darkest hour to playing around with the depth of field and the ISO.
But, most important, the subject has to be there and look right, too. A little bit of science, a little bit of art.
That is what occurred tonight at sunset, when I happened to be outside and happened to have brought my camera with multiple lenses along. And that is why I thanked the Moon for being such an agreeable subject. Easier to work with than some humans, I tell you!
Finally, as is now customary, here is the looping six-second Vine of tonight's Moonrise. Normally, I shoot these with a smartphone, as opposed to assembling them from photos (I'll do this, too!), hence the difference in appearance. Now, imagine me with multiple cameras, lenses, and tripods getting weird looks from the passers-by.
"Crazy Moon lady!" - they thought, just like you.
Under a Funeral Moon
October Moons
The first crescent images are from the beginning of the month. I wanted to capture something that I'd call reversed scale: giant autumn leaves and a tiny Moon.
This blurred photograph, thanks to a shallow depth of field, with a resultant sea of gold in subtly different shades, turned out to be a surprise favorite of mine, though likely too abstract for the viewer.
And this timelapse of last week's half-Moon with wispy clouds veiling over it is dreamy enough to compensate for the current rainy cloud cover and staying indoors.
Almost.
The Moon Lay Hidden...
The Moon lay hidden beneath a cloud...until timelapse revealed it.
This is my very first experiment using a telephoto lens attached to a smartphone. All things considered, I'm pretty impressed. These lenses are not a replacement for, say, photographing wildlife up close and personal, but they're certainly a great supplement. Perhaps, you could even get away with just bringing a set along for travel. Normally, I have at least one carry-on just for a camera and a few lenses. Can you imagine how much space you'd save?
More experiments to come, since timelapse photography is quite addicting. Now if only platforms like Vine and Instagram didn't reduce the quality of large areas of solid color so much.
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:
Moon at Lilac Sundown
Half-Moon Swirls
The other night, the clouds around the evening Half-Moon were so fairy-tale like...
...that I even recorded a little Vine to hypnotize you with the looping swirls.
Moon over Town
Who knew that images of the last near-full Moon, with the setting Sun painting the sky, at an intersection in town could look appealing? Well, I suppose, this is a trick statement: all images of the Moon look aesthetically pleasing!
Another Rockies Moonset
It's been a while since I've had the chance to photograph the Moon, though opportunities certainly present themselves in the summer, when the skies are clear. Tonight, I did not have my camera once again, but I couldn't not photograph a scene like this.
Out came my smartphone, and I snapped a few images that appeared decent on screen. Upon closer inspection, the grain in the images exceeded that of what my Pentax DSLR would give on an automatic setting and without a tripod. This means that my smartphone defaults to a very high ISO when shooting under low-light conditions like those of a sunset.
Lesson learned!