Scattered Thoughts . . .

I sent my two compositions of this week's lunar eclipse to the printer this evening.  I have all my prints done professionally so when I say I sent images to a printer, I am referring to a professional shop and not my own printer connected to my computer. For the final version of the prints, I added text on each. I wanted to make it easy to figure out the date, time and location of this event without having to go digging into the EXIF info (file properties). I wanted this info to be visible on the print itself. Although I feel text on photos adds a distraction, having this added information works in this situation. I'm looking forward to getting the high quality, Fuji Pearl Paper prints (Fuji Crystal Archive Digital Pearl Paper is glossy surface, silver halide color paper with a unique pearl-like, silvery iridescent appearance. The embedded pearl-like crystals give a high gloss effect reflectance) ... I order prints printed on this paper regularly and I have to say that t

This summer at the lake house was a bit unusual in that we saw and heard fewer loons than we normally do.  Loons are a bit odd. They are elusive yet they can be very playful around humans when they want to be but only when they don't feel threatened. They can be territorial yet they can congregate in groups of loons at times. For much of our time at the lake house this year and much to our disappointment, the loons tended to be elusive and quiet. One particular evening, however, a pair of loons approached the house... they paddled back and forth in front of the house about 200 feet from shore. They weren't bobbing and diving for food nor did they seem to be in any hurry to be anywhere. They just sort of slowly paddled back and forth as I quickly, but quietly, headed to our deckside dock with a camera in hand. For the most part, they ignored me as I laid across our dock shooting photos of them.  It was getting darker and darker by the second... it was dusk on this mountain

Waiting for the moon to rise above the treeline... As is the case when trying to accomplish anything, there were some obstacles to overcome when shooting the eclipse the other night. First, I should mention that there were a few things working in my favor which is unusual. The weather was good with clear skies at the same time as a major astronomical event. This combination has been a rarity in my lifetime. My health was doing quite well this particular day so I there were no major health problems to drag me down. (Plus, I pre-medicated with extra medications, just in case.) I was exhausted but I easily found a solution to that problem... just set up the tripod at the living room window and shoot out the window! The fact that these three things came together for one event was amazing... a rare lunar eclipse... on a night when we had clear skies... and also a day when I was feeling relatively well... this was amazing. Power lines and telephone lines getting in the way

It required approximately eight hours of work today (not including all the time spent preparing my gear and shooting), but I managed to put together a full composition of last night's supermoon lunar eclipse (photo below). This composition is comprised of twelve images... eleven shots of the moon as it rose into the starry sky (chosen out of approximately 300 images I shot)... and one shot of the starfield which was in the background of this rare show. The final composition is 6000 x 4800 pixels which would make a beautiful high resolution 8"x10" print. If necessary and if I desired, I suppose I could even produce a high resolution 16"x20" print of this composition.  My original plan was to try to capture a few good images of the eclipse. I had never shot an eclipse before so I was prepared for problems and I tried to keep my goal simple. I kept saying to myself,  "I'll be happy with just a few good images of the blood red eclipsed moon."  Ev

For a change, the weather in my neck of the woods cooperated with an astronomical event! That alone is a rarity. Even more surprising is that my health cooperated as well! The chances of all of this coming together were slim. I had set up a couple of my cameras earlier in the day. I charged and tested batteries. I chose two lenses... one for each camera. I chose the appropriate tripod head and mounted it on my tripod. Then, I waited. Sheila's parents stopped by for a few drinks before dinner which was nice and occupied my time as we waited for nightfall. We ate dinner, cleaned up and then I noticed the full moon was brightly lighting up the sky outside our living room window. At this point, I was running low on energy so, rather than hauling all this gear outdoors to a good viewing spot, I just set up the tripod at the living room window and shot out the open window.  The problem with shooting from this particular window is that I knew that the moon would eventually skirt b