Total Eclipse of the Super Wolf Blood Moon

Total eclipse of the Super Wolf Blood Moon.

 

With a name like Super Wolf Blood Moon, you better be awesome. If that were your name people would want to pick a fight with you just to see how you got your name. You are pretty much the biggest baddest moon around until someone is named Extra Super Wolf Blood Moon. All the celestial chest pounding aside, it did put on a pretty spectacular show last night. Enough of a show that I felt compelled to go out and shoot it in my jammies and slippers. With the temps in the teens and the winds in the 20’s, it didn’t disappoint. I did a few quick pics right before the peak of the eclipse and that was all. As cold as it was, if I had stayed out for more of the show, I would have had to put on socks. Again another awesome event courtesy of Mother Nature.

 

I chose not to lighten the moon much in the image since this was a better depiction of what I saw with the eye.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f6.3, ISO 6400, shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, Sirui SR 3204 tripod and K40x ballhead, processed in Lightroom Classic CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Tamron150600g2, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #BearWoodsPhotography

Setting Super Moon

Setting Super Moon.

 

Let me start by saying, this was not last night, it was this past January. I was not able to go out and shoot the “Super” Moon last night, but I did notice that there is going to be 2 more in the next two cycles. I won’t be in Wyoming for the full moon, but a day or so after, so I will see if we can’t incorporate that big moon in some landscape. This was a special morning though. The Snake River Overlook, snow and minus 28 degree temperature, harsh conditions but well worth getting out there! We don’t force our workshop attendees to go out in these conditions, but we give them every opportunity to capture images that will be a lifetime of memories.

 

We are still finalizing more dates for 2018, and hopefully they will be posted within the next few weeks. We are looking at some local, southeastern US, north Georgia, north Alabama, southern Tennessee workshops that would be one or two day workshops. I wanted to make sure we do some smaller group things, but intensive workshops, meaning everything from basic exposure to composition to finalizing your image. I am planning on opening up the Bear Woods Backyard Bird Studio for morning sessions of bird photography as well (coffee included). We will keep you posted.

 

Tamron 16-300mm Di-II VC USD lens on a Nikon D-500, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 100, shutter speed of 1/15th of a second, Sirui W2204X tripod and K20X ballhead, MindShift Gear FirstLight 30L backpack, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronUSA, #TamronLensesUSA, #TamronImageMaster, #Sirui, #SiruiUSA, #SiruiProfessional, #MindShiftGear

Fire on the Island

Fire on the Island.

 

Anyone that knows me, knows that St. George Island is a special place to me as is Apalachicola. This past weekend, according to articles I have read, show that a careless individual decided to burn leaves with dry and windy conditions. A fairly large wooded portion of the island to the east of the bridge burned. Thankfully there were no injuries and no homes lost. A person has been charged for the act. A problem that will effect the wildlife some is that this is the peak of the migration of songbirds from the south. Many stop at St. George Island as they arrive from over the Gulf of Mexico. They depend on the insects and seeds in that area for their journey north. Fortunately, it was limited to an area in the middle of the island and there is still plenty of land around it to support the birds. Folks, just take a minute and think about “worst case” scenarios when you are going to burn. The most important thing isn’t what is looking back at you in the mirror. Your decisions and actions can have a much greater effect than you imagine.

 

Today’s image is one I did a couple years ago of the full moon behind the Lighthouse on St. George Island. Evelyn and I chased the moon that night setting it behind the lighthouse for about an hour. This is a single frame and not a composite image.

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens on a Nikon D-800, Manual Exposure mode, f8, ISO 3200, shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronImageMasters

My Sandhill Supermoon

My Sandhill Supermoon.

 

The conditions were not good on Monday evening for shooting the Supermoon, so I decided I would work with my workshop group Tuesday morning to shoot the moon as it set, hopefully with a Crane in front of it. The moon was setting about an hour after sunrise so the opportunity could present itself to get a good shot. I went back and forth with several of the attendees helping and watching as they captured incredible shots with Crane(s) in the image with the moon, some perfectly centered! I finally was behind my viewfinder as one flew near the moon. I am pleased I was able to get the moon with a Crane!

 

Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 lens on a Nikon D-500, with Tamron 1.4x teleconverter, Manual Exposure mode, f9, ISO 400, resulting in a shutter speed of 1/640th of a second, Sirui N3204X tripod and PH20 gimbal head, processed in Lightroom CC. #WithMyTamron, #TamronImageMasters, #SiruiUSA

Super Moon rising

I made my mind up around 6:30pm I would get the gear together and shoot the Super Moon. Of course the self curse was bound to happen. At about 7:30pm a storm moved in and blocked the sky for sunset. However being the optimist I am, I kept checking for the clouds to break. Like clockwork as the moon was rising above the pines behind my neighbor’s house, the clouds cleared. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have the folks at Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport route air traffic through the moon, I was able to use the pines across the street to add some interest in the foreground.

Both images were made using the Tamron SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens on a Fuji XE-1 via the Novoflex adapter. I used the mirrorless camera to reduce vibration in the camera plus the camera has focus peaking which allows me to get in and check my focus more accurately. I shot both images at about f16, one at ISO 200 the other at ISO 400, the shutter speeds varied as well due to the haze and humidity closer to the horizon as the moon was rising. I mounted the set up on a Vanguard Abeo Plus tripod and used the Wemberley Gimbal head. The images were processed as Black and White in Lightroom 5.

The “Super Moon”

I had to get out last night and shoot the “super moon” with everyone else. I thought about some great foregrounds, things to silhouette against the light of the moon, but ended up on my front porch. I had started in the yard with some pines in the foreground but noticed that planes flying out of Hartsfield Jackson Airport might cross in front of the moon if I was lucky. I then thought about elevating my view a little so I could separate the moon from the neighbor’s roof line a little. Conveniently, my front porch worked perfect.
The planes never fly on exactly the same line so I thought there might be a chance some would fly below and some above the moon, meaning I would not get “the shot”. I ended up with 3 different planes crossing the path of the moon, one low, one high and one in the middle. The middle one was my favorite. Oddly, I had thoughts at the time were, “I wonder what their view is like”?
For the exposure I used the Sunny 16 rule which states when photographing a front lit object on a clear non-polluted day the exposure is 1/ISO at f16. If you have some haze you would add a stop or so. The full moon is just a front lit object, so this should be easy. I set my camera to ISO 400, shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and my f-stop to f8 because of the haze in the atmosphere. This exposure was right on to get the detail I wanted and to have enough speed to stop the plane’s movement. I used an Olympus EP-2 with an adapter and the Tamron 200-500mm lens mounted on a Vanguard Alta Pro 283CT tripod. I used a cable release to minimize shake on the camera.