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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Over the Moon for the Supermoon

I've always wanted to attempt to get pictures of the the moon and last night I knew that getting a shot of the "Supermoon" was my opportunity. Scientists called the moon last night the "Supermoon" because it's the biggest, brightest moon that has been seen in almost 2 decades. The moon was the closest to the Earth since March 1993. It was 14% bigger, 30% brighter, despite being 221,000 miles away!

So before I pulled out the camera and the tripod I knew I needed to google "how to shoot a picture of the moon" so I had some idea of the best settings so I didn't ruin this opportunity. Here's some of the recommendations: ISO 100, f/8 to f/16, tripod, timer, mirror lock-up and that should do it.

Well then I got all set up and went outside to discover there were tons of clouds. I was able to get a few decent shots with the clouds and here are a few of my favorites.


 But then the clouds parted and at around 1:00 am I was able to get a much clearer picture of the Supermoon, 221,000 miles away. It was breathtaking but I learned that taking pictures in the pitch black is trickier than you think - I couldn't see my camera and some of the buttons/functions (like spot metering) that I don't normally use were hard to find. I ran back inside and got a flashlight and we were back in business. I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I did taking them.


Did anyone else capture shots of the Supermoon - do share!

5 comments:

Brooke said...

BWAHAHAHAAA! I am so glad I wasn't the only one out hunting the super moon. I actually got in my car and drove all around town trying to find a good spot to see it. This was at 7:30pm. I soon realized that I wasn't getting a super shot of the super moon with all that darn cloud cover! (Oh, and I googled tips too! We are so much ALIKE!) I kinda gave up at that point. I really wanted to catch it as it was first starting to rise. Dave thought I was such a nerd - glad I am in GOOD company!!! Heeee.

So I say...Living Life to the Fullest said...

I attempted, but failed miserably. I'm so glad someone was successful. Congrats!

Serline said...

Between my son and me, we must have taken over 30 shots of the "supermoon"!

Kat Sloma said...

These turned out great! I really love the ones with the clouds, it made for some great atmosphere.

Catherine said...

I got some pretty fun moon shots myself! We were lucky enough to have a clear sky, and I was very grateful. It was so pretty!