Tag Archives: Lunar photography

Catching the Moon

Posted by dkrashb on

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The moon.  What a subject it is.  I cannot help but shoot it.  Perhaps I take the phrase “shooting the moon” a bit too literally.  At least I’m not trying to shoot it with a gun.

I got up this morning and decided to see if the sunrise was interesting.  I headed down the hall, back to the common area and onto the balcony.

The wind was not any calmer than it had been two nights ago when I was waiting for the almost-full-moonrise that never showed.  The temperature, however, was probably 20 degrees colder.

I’d decided to do a little experiment.  Instead of shooting with a wide-angle lens as I usually would, I decided to use my 70-200mm lens to see if I could get something a little different from the tried and true views of the riverfront.

As the sun came up from behind the bluff, I waited to see if the light would get interesting in the sky.  I was pretty focused (no pun intended) on the sun rising.  Sometimes, I have to stop myself from staring because it gets hard to tell when the light has changed if you watch it too intensely.  I guess it’s like living with someone who loses weight really gradually compared to running into someone you haven’t seen in ages who’s dropped 20 pounds since the last time you saw them.

So, when I realized I was staring for too long, I decided it was time to look around and see what the rest of the view looked like.  When I turned, there it was.  The lost moon, found again, centered in a clearing in the clouds.  I swung my camera around on the tripod, zoomed in, and found focus just in time for the clouds to blow back over the *$%^ moon.  Argh!

But, with a few adjustments, I kind of liked the shot anyway.  It was the only chance I got–the cloud coverage just kept getting thicker until there was just one small, bright spot in the clouds barely bright enough to be noticeable if I didn’t already know where the moon was.

I turned back to the sunrise, but I kept looking over my shoulder just in case the moon decided to change its course and head back to the clearing.  The moon made no such decision.  Instead, it followed its predictable trajectory.  At least, that’s what I assume it did–it’s not as if I could actually watch its progress.  For all I know, it jumped out of the sky and will never be seen again.

Just for kicks, I google the moonrise time for tonight.  I don’t know if I have it in me to stand on the cold balcony waiting for the late rise of a waning gibbous moon–it’s just not as exciting as a full (or almost full) moon.  I’m relieved to discover the moon won’t rise until after my bedtime.  Maybe I should start shooting moonset?

No Moon

Posted by dkrashb on
I really wanted the white house to be the moon, but no matter how many times I shot it, it was still a house

I really wanted the white house to be the moon, but no matter how many times I shot it, it was still a house

Once again, the moon has disappointed me.  I suppose it’s my own fault.  I lost track of when the full moon would occur this month.  I discovered this when we were walking home from dinner and I looked up and there it was, high in the sky shining brightly the way only a full moon can.

I thought, “No worries, it will still look full tomorrow night.”  I googled the moonrise time for the following evening.  I put it on my calendar.  I got out my camera, put on the 1.4x extender and my 100-400mm lens.  In plenty of time to get setup, I walked to the common room and setup my tripod and camera on the balcony.  Then, I waited.

Now, I was mentally prepared for the moon to be late.  I have enough experience with this now to know I can’t expect the moon to appear over the high ridge in front of me at the same time it crosses the horizon at sea level.  What I couldn’t remember was just how late it usually is.  I thought about the last time I was parked in the cold wind waiting on the moon.  Was it 20 minutes after official moonrise time?  Or was it 30?  Maybe it was even 45?

Had I been thinking, I might have looked up my last moonrise post to see how late it was.  According to that post, it was over 30 minutes late.  I can’t think of any reason why it would be more or less late at various times of the year if it’s rising behind the same ridge, shouldn’t it rise with the same lateness?

In any case, since I wasn’t thinking, I stood on that cold balcony in a blustery wind waiting.  And while I was waiting, I kept imagining I saw the moon.  In particular, the house in the image above reflected light in such a way that every time I scanned the ridge, I thought, “there it is!”  I ended up with about 10 pictures of this house during the hour I waited on the moon.

By the time it was an hour past moonrise, I figured it was time to call it quits.  I was tired of jogging in place to keep the blood flowing to my toes.  My nose was also running–like it was training for a marathon.  I took one last look at all the visible sky and saw no sign that the moon was anywhere to be found.  Not even a bright spot in the clouds.

I guess this is a case where even the best-laid plans go awry.  On the other hand, the best-laid plan might have been to check the weather forecast before the full moon and to decide to shoot a night earlier when the moon was truly full and the sky was clear.  But, I would have had to miss dinner with good friends to do that.

As my best friend reminded me, there will be plenty of moonrises in the future.