It’s obvious that I am a Summer person because now that the weather has warmed up I have such an abundance of new photos that I don’t even know where to start in sharing them with you.
Since I already have these ones edited because I posted them to Facebook this morning for my neighbours to see, how about I start with the supermoon of June 23, 2013. I was very tired last night after being outside in the heat all day and had settled on the couch to relax before bed when my mom called me to let me know that it was the night of the supermoon. Because its orbit is not perfectly circular, the moon is sometimes closer than at other times. Perigee is the term for when the moon is closest to the Earth. When full moon coincides with perigee, it’s time for supermoon.
So, even though I was tired, I set up my new tripod, mounted my camera and waited for it to get dark. Every half hour I went outside to see if the moon had risen yet, but each time I came back inside disappointed. Usually I can easily see the full moon above the very tall trees behind the houses across the street, but there was nothing but darkness. Finally, at 11 pm I saw brightness behind the trees and set up the tripod in front of my neighbour’s house where there was a space between the trees. It’s a really good thing that my neighbour didn’t look out his window I’ll tell you because he would have probably called the police about a stalker outside LOL!
Finally, I realized that there was a thin layer of clouds in front of the moon which started to move away revealing the moon in all its glory. Now honestly, the moon didn’t really look any bigger to me, but it sure was gorgeous, so I started experimenting with settings and snapping photo after photo. Here are a few of my favourites. I hope you enjoy them too :).
photos from the loonybin 
Great job with these Cindy, perfect exposure.
To get the full effect of the apparent size of the “Super Moon,” you really need to see it as it crests the horizon. It also helps of there is something to give it some scale, like a building or mountain near where its rising. Once it gets up away from the horizon it really doesn’t look all that different than any other full moon.
So true. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate at first. I even drove up to the highway where the land is totally flat to see if I could see it come up over the horizon, but it was nowhere to be seen because of clouds I guess. I remember one night years ago when we were coming home from one of our son’s baseball games, and the moon on the horizon was absolutely huge. I have never seen it like that since, but that night I had to pee so bad that I couldn’t stop to snap a picture. When I look back now, I realize that I should have just peed my pants for the sake of a fantastic capture. It would have been so worth it LMAO!!
The same thing happened to me last year. Moonrise came and went, nothing. I was about ready to give up when I happened to look out to sea and saw this faint glow. When the moon finally made it above the clouds I was able to get te shot I posted on my fan page Sunday. Not what I wanted, but I was pretty darn happy with it.
I guess if everything worked out perfectly each time, we might get bored because there would be no challenge. Challenges are good and patience is key right? 🙂
You got that right! If I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I’d capture the photograph I had in my head every time I left the house with my camera, pretty soon I’d have very little motivation to try. That’s also why “better luck next time” has always been my attitude about what I photograph. Those mountains aren’t going anywhere. That’s why the feelings I expressed in my “They Tell Me It’s Nice,” post really caught me off guard. I’ve never cared if I didn’t get what I wanted the first (or even second or third) time. Maybe a little disappointed, sure. But I know that the sun will rise again, the wildflowers I missed this year will bloom again next year, etc.
Heck, even when I do get exactly what I want I’m immediately thinking of ways I can do it better next time 😉
It’s the challenges that help us to improve our skills. Your desire to do better and better is one of the things that makes you such an amazing photographer :).
Your photos are simply stunning! Gorgeous! 🙂 ~Dor
Thank you my friend. I’ve now got a grin from ear to ear :).
AWESOME!!!!! as always Cindy.
Ooooh, capital letters!! That must mean you really liked them :). Thanks Irene!
Love the photos and as you say it didn’t look any bigger to me either… bright yes… but bigger, don’t know…
Thanks Bulldog! It’s like Jeff said – probably if I had seen it cresting the horizon, it would have appeared much bigger than usual, but by the time the clouds cleared it was already high in the sky. It was still beautiful though :).
Fantastic job on these Cindy. Really excellent shots. Which lens did you use?
Wow Edith, you are really good for my ego – thank you so much :). As for the lens, it was a 55-250mm, and I used my new tripod that I got at the Henrys show and a remote shutter release. I am always learning little things from that show, and one hint that I put to use this time was that when you are using a tripod you should turn the image stabilizer off on the lens. I usually forget to do that. It was a lot of fun experimenting and it helps me to learn, although I think my neighbours all thought I was a little bit crazy standing out in the middle of the road with a tripod set up, but that’s ok. I guess that’s why my blog is called Photos From the Loonybin :).
Well you’re a quick learner and you did amazing. BTW I forget to turn of my image stabilizer all the time 🙂
Oh good! I’m glad I’m not the only one :). Thanks for all the encouragement – I really appreciate it.
Great shot and how come I didn’t know this was happening. Not that it matters here. Always cloudy.
Don’t feel bad – I wouldn’t have known about it either if my mom hadn’t called me. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it a little bit through my photos though :). There has been nothing but rain in our forecast here for the last few days, but it seems to keep passing us by, so I think I was lucky to get the shots I did. And boy is it hot and humid this week – I am loving it :). Lots of reading time outside on the deck. Too bad you aren’t here so my non-reading family could see that I’m not the only one who can sit and read all day LOL!!
No one in your family reads. Oh dear, you need to teach them!
LOL!!! They know how – they just think it’s stupid. My boys used to read like crazy when they were little and I encouraged it, but I do find that a lot of males go through a stage in their life where they turn their backs on books. I know my dad now reads voraciously and so does my brother, so I’m hoping that one day my boys will rediscover the joys of reading too :). I will cross my fingers!
I think I need proof that they can read, since if they can they should love books. What’s not to love?
I know!! They truly don’t know what they are missing, and it makes me sad :(. I have saved every one of their books from their childhoods, and I’m hoping that one day they will rediscover their joy of reading again and will pass it on to their kids just like I did with them.
By the way, I can’t wait for you to read the new Neil Gaiman book. I would love to hear what you think about it. I absolutely loved it, although it is one of those books where you are still trying to wrap your mind around certain aspects as you turn the last page, but then I like books that make me think. 🙂
Wowzas it’s so close up and clear! Great job Cindy. 😀
P.S. I just read ANOTHER five star worthy book! I don’t think I’ve ever read two five star ones in a row!!!!! It’s like Christmas come early. 😀
That’s awesome! One was Great Expectations right? But what was the other one? I have been reading non-stop lately too. I have read like 3 books in the last week.
Yepp, the other one is Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, it’s a YA contemporary book. I’ve read three of her novels in the past but the is my favourite so far! They’re such easy reads but quite intense at the same time. I wasn’t expecting to be quite so blown away!
Last night I finished Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. It is YA as well, and Emmy is one of the authors I met last week at the Fierce Reads Tour. It’s her first book, and I really enjoyed it. It was extremely well written and the characters were awesome, and like you said it was a very easy read. When I am reviewing books like that I have to stop and remind myself that it is a YA book because they are generally not as complex as an adult novel and therefore can’t be rated on the same level. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah I totally get that! I feel the same about chick-lit, while I can really enjoy it I just don’t see it on the same level as other books because it doesn’t go into as much depth. It may sound a bit book snobbish but it’s not meant that way. YA rarely gets a five star from me, it has to be pretty amazing, but then again, I don’t give out many five stars anyway, LOL! For a long time with Just Listen I kept thinking does this rate a five? But I literally could not find one thing wrong with it so in the end it did.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Monument 14, I know you were really looking forward to reading it. I see you’ve started the next one on Goodreads already. 😉
I think what I mean is that I have to have a different rating system for YA, so that a YA book could easily be a 5 star, but it wouldn’t be the same as 5 stars for an adult book because it would be like comparing apples and oranges.
Ten minutes until lunch and then I can read the second Monument 14 book. I live for reading time LOL!! I can’t remember if I told you or not, but my favourite read this week was The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. It’s one of those books that left my head swimming with possible explanations, but it was just so incredibly well written. I must read more of his books!
Haha yeah I get what you mean. 🙂
Enjoy your lunch break!!! I always want to read more when I can’t, I’m so contrary it’s funny. 😛 I hope the second is as good as the first.
Gaiman has such an unusual writing style, I really should read more of his books as well!
Thank you :). I was just thrilled with how they turned out.
Well captured. We had solid cloud here and couldn’t see a thing!!!
Oh, that’s too bad. It was almost a bust here too, and now I’m really tired from staying up too late that night to capture it. It was worth it though! I hope you have better luck next time :).
Love these! Thanks for sharing them…It was REALLY, REALLY bright here and so beautiful….you’re a better man than I am…couldn’t drag myself out of bed to try to take some shots……OH! Read some of the other comments and just wanted to let you know, my Son, a non-reader his whole life, just started reading for enjoyment at 28 years old.
Trust me, I almost didn’t go out because I was so damn comfy on the couch. I’m glad you liked the photos – that makes it worth it right there :). Oh, and thank you so much for the comment about your son. It gives me hope! I read to my sons from the time they were babies, and they loved reading when they were little. Hopefully they will be like your son and rediscover that love one day!
I don’t even know how it happened! He showed up at the lake one weekend, book in hand…never say never!
That is wonderful 🙂
I just read what I wrote…how did my Son get to be 28??????
Hard to believe isn’t it? Where have the years gone? My sons are 20 and 16 now, and it feels like just yesterday they were clinging to my legs and begging to be picked up and cuddled, and it makes me sad :(. I miss those days so very much; however, I am also really enjoying my freedom now that they don’t need me 24/7 🙂
I know….Miss those little lovey’s…but…something really nice about having your son or daughter relate to you as an adult sometimes and letting you know that they respect you….worth it’s weight in gold, that experience is.
I totally understand what you mean. I have a totally different relationship with my boys now – an adult relationship – and it’s quite different. I love being able to have heart to hearts with them about life and their opinions on what’s going on in the world and in their personal lives. I still miss my babies sometimes though :(.
Love love love these shots!!! What lense did you use?? We couldn’t see that awesome moon…. overcast like crazy!!! 🙂 **
Thanks so much Xandre. It was overcast here at first too. I just lucked out :). I used my 55-250mm lens set up on a tripod out in the middle of the street. It was kinda funny, and I kept wondering if anyone was wondering what the hell I was doing LOL! All my neighbours know I’m crazy though :).
Hahaha – what a picture you have painted in my imagination!!! Great captures!! – I’ll say it was worth it!! 🙂 **
Yes it was 🙂