moon
At the end of a rural land photography shoot in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, I turned from the west after getting the required sunset shots to see the moon rising over the Sandia Mountains. I would come to learn that in a few days this would be a very rare full (blue) moon on Halloween night. To get unique views one must go to unique places, and not many go miles off road in the desert northwest of Rio Rancho wit a camera.
Read MoreI was actually out on a commercial portrait shoot near Petroglyph National Monument in west Albuquerque when driving home I saw the Super Blue Blood Moon rising over the Sandia Mountains. At a good vantage point I pulled over, popped the trunk, and took out my Nikon D7200 which already had a 80-200mm lens on it to get some shots!
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Super Moon or Perigree Moon May 5, 2012 over Smacks Bayou St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseWhat is sure to be one of the most photographed subjects of the year is the so-called Super Moon or Perigree Moon that rose in the twilight sky tonight on May 5, 2012. Luckily for me I had a good vantage point of the Super Moon right from my back patio allowing me to make the HDR image above. I chose to center the moon between two palm trees. Uncharacteristically, I did not try any other compositions, so I hope I wake up tomorrow still liking how I framed this shot and not regretting trying a simpler framing!
Did you photograph the super moon tonight?
Moon & Venus side-by-side - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/200th on Induro CT214 with Nikon MC-30 cable releaseAs I was driving home from the dog park yesterday evening with Kiki, I noticed the Moon and Venus in unusual positions: side-by-side of each other. Usually I find Venus to be below the Moon. In the above photograph this does not look as peculiar as it did to the naked eye, but in order for Venus to show up in the shot at all, I had to fill the frame with them as much as possible. It kind of looked like they were friends, just hanging out next to each other.
This is a very easy kind of astrophotograph to make, if you use manual mode. One must choose a shutter speed carefully. Too long of a shutter speed, even like 1/80th of a second will result in the moon looking just like a white disc. So the one tricky part was finding a balance of exposing the Moon as well as possible while still having Venus be visible.
Also, even though I used a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/200th, handholding this type of shot is not advised. Using a stable tripod makes it much easier. In addition, I used a cable release to further reduce shake. There is no money better spent in photography than on a no-compromises tripod.
this image is available for commercial license & fine art print - contact Jason today
Moonrise of a purple twilight at the new Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL -- this image available as fine art print & commercial license -- f/8 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThe new Salvador Dali Museum is situated in an ideal direction for night time photography as its most notable feature, the glass wave, faces due east. This allows for the setting Florida sun to backlight the museum, which this time resulted in a reddish-purple sky. The extended hours on Thursday evenings allow for the lights to come on inside the museum resulting in the image seen above. In addition, the moon was rising and waxing just enough to be visible in the early twilight.
Looking east on the north side of the Dali Museum - f/8 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseThe view to the east in the evening offers an infinite gradient of blue until clouds hover on the horizon. There are almost an infinite number of ways one can photograph the palm trees reflected in the glass wave as well.
Cyon? Egg? Hive? or other? - new Dali Museum glass wave at twilight with moon - f/8 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseIf you are looking for an outstanding new location to make photographs in the Tampa Bay area, I highly recommend visiting the Dali Museum with your DSLR and tripod on an evening very soon.
Moonrise over The Pier St. Petersburg Florida - SETUP: f/5.6 ISO 200 1/40th handheld
"Sometimes I can't believe in, I'm moving past the feeling again." -- Arcade Fire
As society moves further and further into illusion, the order of the natural world ever gets pushed more and more into the background. This is one of my main motivating forces as a photographer. I want to preserve the natural world while it is still visible for me to see. This is the only way I currently know how to stop time. As I have said before, I make photographs first and foremost for myself to look at. If others dig them, so be it.
Every sunset to me seems the death of the world. The sky closes its eyes. Darkness falls. Yet, in due time the world brightens again and, lo, there is another day.
Yet I remain drawn to every sunset I see. There has to be some escape through it.
Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 13sec tripod mounted (knee high) with cable releaseI first saw the winter solstice moon as I was driving home from the dog park with Kiki. It looked very large in the sky rising over the tower of the Vinoy Golf & Country Club. I knew as a photographer this was something I should photograph. I quickly fed Kiki dinner (Taste of the Wild dry dog food) then got my Nikon D300 ready for long exposure shooting, i.e. attach the cable release and mount it on the tripod.
I was in time as there was still some light left in the fading twilight sky. Without this light my shot would not have turned out as colorful. The water of Smacks Bayou was very uncharacteristically like glass, but even the slight water movement can be seen in the shape of the moon's oblong reflection.
Did you photograph the winter solstice moon? If so, please share your links in the comments below.
