Scattered Thoughts . . .

Actually, this month's Pink Moon isn't named as such because it appears pink.  It is named the Pink Moon for the April blooming of the Ground Phlox which is a pink flower.  Anyway, tonight's moon was quite colorless from our neck of the woods as it rose over the Worcester Range.  It was, however, quite large.  I think this is the full moon that is closest to Earth for this calendar year, if I remember correctly, which would make it a so-called supermoon.   I shot this photo through our opened living room window.  Convenient, huh?  Since it was a last second decision to shoot this full moon, I didn't quite get all my camera settings set correctly.  Within a couple of minutes, the moon was moving behind some utility lines and then trees.  This image will have to do... For those interested in the technical aspects of this image...  I shot this with my little Sony a6000 camera body and my Canon L 400mm f5.6 lens mounted on a trip...

Our moon is currently making its way around us on the closest path to Earth for 2019...  at around 221,700 miles from Earth.  At its farthest point from us, it is 253,000 miles.  So, because it is closer to us, our February "Snow Moon" also appears slightly larger than usual...  especially as it just comes up over the horizon.   We haven't seen much sky in recent months so it was a surprise to see the big, bright moon as it rose last night and bathed our snowy landscape with soft white light.  This light was so bright it was casting shadows in our living room.  My first thought was to bring a telescope outside to get a closer look at the moon.  After quickly glancing at the thermometer, I instead opted for grabbing a camera and shooting a few shots through our living room window.  It was far too cold out there for me!   The moon had just risen above the ridge of the Worcester Range opposite our living room window but w...

I go through spurts of trying to get nice crisp shots of the moon and I think I'm nearing the end of one such spurt. (Which means I will soon spare everyone of these rather boring moon photos!) Full moons are the toughest to shoot because the light is so bright and yet flat. By flat, I mean that the sun is shining on the moon so straight-on that there are very few shadows being cast by all the large features on the moon's surface. It is this lack of shadow that makes for a very 'flat' image. For instance, if I hold a tennis ball out in front of me with one hand and hold a flashlight next to my ear shining on that tennis ball, we won't see any shadows on that tennis ball. If we don't see shadows, we don't see depth.  If I hold the flashlight out in front of me, next to the tennis ball which is also in front of me, we will see a big shadow around one side of the ball as well as little shadows showing the texture of the fuzzy tennis ball. There is much mo...