Moon, stars and the occasional eclipse
Harvest moon
Summer is waning. Well, it feels like it's waned all season anyway so why get depressed? However, did you know that September usually gives us record high temperatures? Fear not, hot weather fanatics, 11 days remain in the calendar year of summer. For those that revel in what the fall [...]
Waxing Crescent Moon
Couldn't sleep last night, so I did what any insomniac would do. I shot the moon. The orange tint to the moon is supplied by the recent heat wave and the inversion layer it created, trapping tons of pollutants. The picture was rated at ISO 800, with a shutter of [...]
Lunar eclipse
Stupid clouds. Fleetingly, the winter solstice lunar eclipse made a stunning appearance 40 minutes in to the birth of 2010's first day of winter . Admittingly, the last solstice eclipse in 1991 I missed. Sleeping probably. No way was I going to miss this one. Now I can say "been [...]
Soft box in the sky
National Geographic photographer Sam Abell told me years ago about natural soft boxes- Thunderstorms, light colored rock formations etc. Abell mentioned that light reflected from a thunderstorm cloud is the most natural soft box there is. He was right. Portrait and landscape images with reflected cloud light make dynamic photos. [...]
I see stars
I see stars. No, not Paris Hilton or Tom Cruise. Not even Guy Fieri. The Big Dipper is visible tonight (Saturday) for the first time in almost a month (at least from my house). No wind and no low clouds. The flags at the local firehouse are still. As an [...]
Spring Moon
The first full moon of Spring appears Sunday March 28, 2010. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 2010 The First full moon of Spring 2010. A renewal of the growing season. My father told me that you had to wait one month to plant summer crops [...]
