Moon

wpid8446-C59F1813.jpgIt only seems appropriate that I should follow a sun posting with one about the moon.  Having lived for the last ten years in a place that faced east, I was used to seeing the moon appear and then progress across the sky.  Now I live somewhere that faces west so, when I see the moon, it is already on its way down.  Having the hills to the west of us means there is even less time to catch it.

I have shot the full moon (or very close to full) a few times before.  One evening I was beginning to think about turning in when I saw the moon was dropping down and it was substantially in shadow.  I thought it looked very interesting and, since the time of the movement is about an hour later each day, if I didn’t shoot it then, the following day would be a bit later, the moon would be a bit fuller and who knows whether the sky would be clear anyway.  I headed downstairs to grab some gear and set up some shots from outside the garage.

The sky is not the clearest and least affected by distortion where we are but it isn’t too bad.  I got a few shots and then ramped up the ISO a bit to make sure of getting something with a higher shutter speed.  For those of you that haven’t tried shooting the moon, it moves surprisingly quickly and the use of a long lens emphasizes this even more.  Therefore, you need quite a high shutter speed to make sure it isn’t blurred.  Fortunately, although it is dark where you are, the moon is in full sunlight so there is a decent amount of illumination to help you out.

I got a few shots, and then headed back indoors to bed.  Sometimes you just have to grab the moment.  As a related item, I also got some daytime shots as the moon got closer to full recently.

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