Harvest Supermoon

I've really had a few weeks of virtual nothingness lately. I've been laid up on the couch trying to recover from some excruciating and debilitating bone and joint pain. At times, I had to deal with the usual Systemic Mastocytosis intermittent anaphylaxis, nausea and gastro-intestinal issues too. Needless to say, it has not been a very productive month as a result.

As I lie on our couch, I have a clear view through our living room window of the moon rising from behind the Worcester Range each night. The moon always captures my attention but considering I've been confined to the living room all day, every day, for the past month, the bright moon rising and shining through our living room window is impossible to ignore. 

Two things make this full moon worth mentioning. First, the full moon in September is known as the Harvest Moon which oftentimes is spectacular. Second, this particular full moon is also considered a Supermoon because it is so near the Earth at this time. Our moon was closer in August but our full moons in July and September have been close enough to be considered Supermoons as well.

I've had some difficulties getting sharp shots while trying to handhold my camera lately so tonight I decided to dig out my tripod so I could possibly capture a decent shot of this Harvest Supermoon. The perfectionist in me is feeling a bit disappointed in my results tonight but it is far better than average. This little project also got me out of the house and into the yard which was a nice change of atmosphere!

Some tips on shooting the moon... Use manual exposure since the dark sky will fool the camera into thinking it is a dark scene. This is not a dark scene and using any auto-exposure modes will cause over-exposure every time (which is why most photos of the moon show just a white blob in the black sky). Use a tripod... Lock the mirror up to minimize vibration... Use a remote or timer to release the shutter to minimize vibration... Use low ISO and a fast shutter speed because the moon is basically a bight reflection of our bright sun which means it is much brighter than people realize... ie, my exposure was set the same as for a bright sunny day. Set your lens to its sharpest aperture setting (in my case this was f8)... Use "daylight" white balance... and, shoot only when the sky is the clearest. These are the basics which will get you close to a decent shot of our moon.

EDIT:  I completely forgot to mention an important tip when using a tripod... Make sure you turn off your Image Stabilization! Why turn off Image Stabilization when you want to eliminate camera shake? When you put your camera on a tripod, effectively eliminating any vibrations and camera shake, the Image Stabilization will work against you causing some vibration/movement due to Image Stabilization trying to work as it is supposed to work. I forgot to turn off my IS and this is probably why I was left feeling a bit disappointed with these images! I had a feeling I was forgetting something important when I was shooting these images... this was it.


And, just for the heck of it, I'll add a black and white version too...