Tag: #supermoon

Shooting the Supermoon

The rising of the Pink Supermoon last week was an ideal occasion to test the sharpness of my new Sony a2rIV camera and the 200-600 mm Sony lens. The reach and exceptional clarity of this high tech team made me a believer!

The most effective way to photograph the night sky is with a DSLR camera in manual mode, mounted on a tripod and exposed for the moon. The purpose of using a 600 mm lens (as opposed to a 200 mm or a 50 mm lens) is that the far distant object, in this case the moon, will appear far larger in your frame. The purpose of expensive, high quality glass (lens) is clarity of its focus. In addition to choosing the appropriate camera and lens, you will also benefit from the know-how to shoot in RAW mode and process in Photoshop, Lightroom and Luminar. I share with you the results of bringing all these methods to bear on our opportunity.

#supermoon, #moonrise, #sony, #luminar, #sonyalpha, #reallyrightstuff, #naturephotography, #sky, #outdoorphotography, #florida, #naplesflorida
Pink Supermoon rising, just clearing the palm trees in Naples Florida. April 2020
#supermoon, #moonrise, #moon, #sonyalpha, #reallyrightstuff, #luminar, #howto, #nightsky, #sky, #nature, #naturephotography, #naplesflorida, #florida, #palms, #detail
Pink Supermoon rises higher in the darkening sky. Zoom in to see the detail in the moon’s surface.

The Magic Touch

This graceful palm frond reaches out and almost touches the Supermoon as it rises. Does this gesture remind you of another magic moment, in art history?

#palm, #moon, #supermoon, #nikon, #tamron, #fullmoon, #florida, #january30
As the palm frond seems to reach toward the moon in this image, I am reminded of Michelangelo’s magic moment of creation on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Do you see what I mean?

Hands of God and Adam.jpg
By Michelangelo – Web Gallery of Art[1], Public Domain, Link

 

 

Lovely Lunar Eclipse

The Moon, the Sun and the Earth, moving in concert, put on a fabulous show, and I am so grateful that the Clouds did not run interference. Clear skies over Naples on the Gulf of Mexico early on January 31, 2018 gave all of us at Vanderbilt Beach a great experience. I promised my friendly neighbors in the adventure a series of images shot with my Nikon D800 and Tamron 600mm lens, so here we go:

#bluemoon, #moon, #supermoon, #eclipse, #naples, #january31
About 6:25am the Supermoon of January 31 looks full, but the upper left portion begins to darken. Notice the detail on the moon’s surface.

#moon, #supermoon, #bluemoon, #lunareclipse, #eclipse, #naples, #photography, #astrophotography
Minutes later the dark portion of the moon grows, as the Earth blocks more of the sun. The moon also appears more orange.

#moon, #supermoon, #bluemoon, #january31, #photography, #astrophotography, #eclipse, #lunareclipse
The dark region and the orange glow continue to grow as the lunar eclipse approaches its peak.

#moon, #eclipse, #moonset, #bluemoon, #supermoon, #lunareclipse, #naples, #photography, #astrophotography, #tamron, #nikon
The eclipsed moon descends toward the horizon over the Gulf of Mexico.

#moon, #moonset, #gulf, #naples, #lunareclipse, #eclipse, #dawn, #supermoon, #bluemoon, #itsover, #photography, #astrophotography, #nikon, #tamron
As the dawn approaches and the sky lightens and turns pink, we catch our last glimpse of the lunar eclipse before the moon has set over the Gulf.

In a short thirty-minute observation, our adventure was over.

If you enjoyed this series of photographs, please share this blog with your friends. There will be more moon, wildlife, nature and landscape photography to come! Prints of higher resolution images are available for sale via Cathy’s website: www.cathykellyphotography.com or by emailing Cathy your request at cathykellyphotography@gmail.com.

 

 

First Glimpse of the Supermoon

Waiting for the Supermoon to rise into view this evening, I was driving a golf cart around the course, looking for the best location I could find. The official rising time of 5:26pm had passed, but I did not have a clear view of the flat horizon. Killing time, I clicked a few photos of a great blue heron.

#heron, #blueheron, #greatblueheron, #waitingforthemoon, #supermoon,#vigil, #florida
Great blue heron just before sunset tonight in Naples, Florida.

I kept checking the alignment of my shadow, to make sure I was looking for the moon rising in the right location, and suddenly… there it was, and it DID indeed look big.

#supermoon, #bluemoon, #risingmoon, #palms, #firstsight, #sky
My first glimpse of the Supermoon, rising on January 30, just after 5:30pm as the sun set. It was both a blue moon and supermoon.

This was one of those moments that I wish a friend or family member was at my side to share the excitement. “There it is!” I murmured to myself.

The Rising Supermoon

Just in case the clouds block my view of the Supermoon setting over the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow morning, I wanted to be ready to photograph the Supermoon tonight as it rose, at virtually the same time as sunset.

I chose a location with distant trees for my foreground, and used my Tamron 600-150 zoom lens mounted on my Nikon D800 and a tripod for a grand view of the rising moon. The moon rose above the trees, directly opposite the setting sun as I stood watch on the Royal Poinciana Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

As the sky darkened after sunset, the moon rose higher above the trees and shone brilliantly showing the detail of its surface. Here is my image of the Supermoon, just after it crested the palm trees tonight, while the low sun bathed the trees in warm light.

#supermoon, #moon, #rising, #palm, #florida, #thereitis
Supermoon rises in the east over Naples Florida around 5:30 pm as the sun was setting in the west.

This photo is a low resolution image for quick loading. A higher resolution image will appear on my website, http://www.cathykellyphotography.com

Ready for the Super Blue Moon Eclipse?

In America, January 31, 2018 is our lucky day! If we rise and shine before sunrise, we can witness a blue moon, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse all at the same time. From our continent, that will be a first — since March 1866. Maybe we should set the alarm clock. (Source: earthsky.org)

A blue moon is a full moon that occurs twice in a calendar month. A “supermoon” is a full moon that appears larger on Earth, since the full moon occurs at its perigee, the closest distance to Earth in its elliptical orbit.  On January 31, we will see our third consecutive supermoon, if this is starting to sound familiar.

As an observer, you will be super lucky the farther west in America you are located that morning, as you will see more of the eclipse before the moon sets. I will be waking up in Naples, Florida where I will witness 23 minutes of the 1 and a quarter hour eclipse before moonset at 7:11am. However, Hawaiians can view the lunar eclipse from 2:52am until 4:08am. Get your camera and tripod ready, and find an optimal location!

I will be on the beach looking westward. How about you? I hope you will share your observations on social media, photographers.

#moon, #moonphotography, #astrophotography, #tamron, #nikon, #prepareforlunareclipse
Partial Moon in glorious sunlight on January 8, 2018 soon after sunrise, through my Tamron 600mm lens.