This morning, I saw the Moon setting between two Oak Trees on a nearby ridge and thought it was framed quite nicely.
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Moon: Waning gibbous (82%)
It was a really clear night here in the Algarve Serra tonight and the Moon detail was clear to the eye, so couldn’t resist the urge to grab the camera with 500mm lens.
The current Moon phase is Waning gibbous. Of course, it was the Blue Moon a few nights back (it was hazy here so didn’t venture) and now the Moon is illumination is getting smaller, this is called Waning. Gibbous means less than a full circle but more than a semi-circle. For close-up shots, I much prefer a non-full moon because the shadows really show up the craters. This is why my Full Moon shots normally have something else of interest in them.
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Supermoon Rise
Tonight’s Supermoon was a spectacular sight rising above the ridges here in the Algarve Serra. The scene didn’t quite turn out like I hoped, it was darker than I thought it would be, but still managed to get a shot of the moon just rising above one of the ridges.
This is the only Supermoon of 2018 and is when the Moon is the closest to Earth at a distance 357,495km. This full Moon of December is also called the Cold Moon as it’s the first Full Moon of the winter. There is another Supermoon scheduled for 2nd January 2018 and even another on 31st January 2018 although the latter is also a total Lunar eclipse for north-western North America, the Pacific, Asia, and Australia.
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Don’t Forget The Supermoon Tonight!
Just a quick reminder that tonight (Sunday 3rd December) there will be a Full Moon, it’s also called the Cold Moon as it’s the first Full Moon of the winter. Also, as the Full Moon is at its closest distance to the Earth (357,495 km!) it’s 2017’s one and only Supermoon.
Here in the Algarve, the Moon is due to rise 18 minutes after sunset but 10 minutes before Civil Dusk.
Sunset: 17:16
Moonrise: 17:34
Civil Dusk: 17:44
This should hopefully give the sky a nice colour and may even provide a purple hue giving the bright white Moon (or it could rise a red/orange colour) a stunning backdrop. We have clear skies forecast and I hope to photo the Moon rising above the Mountain ridges here in the Algarve Serra.
Wherever you are, if you’re lucky enough to have clear skies, remember to get out to watch and even photograph! Hopefully, I’ll have a photo for you later.
If you are getting out to photograph it, here’s a quick tip: Use a long focal length to squash the perspective, it will make the Moon look bigger.
Here’s a photo from the last Supermoon rising above an old ruined building on the 14th November 2016. I used a 300mm lens to capture the ruin in the distance with the Moon behind giving the same visual impression your eyes have. If I was close to the ruin with a wide lens, the Moon would appear smaller and further in the distance.
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Full Moon Rising
This photo is from a couple of days ago, Saturday 4th November. It was a Full Moon and I noticed it rising in the distance. I looked around for a framing for a shot as a Full Moon photo on its own can be a little flat and empty.
I noticed that it would rise between a gap in an Oak Tree and decided to take this shot. It is made up of 2 exposures, one on the Moon itself and another on the tree. The tree is lit with an LED torch.
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All of the content displayed on this website (unless otherwise stated) remains the copyright of Craig Rogers. It is illegal to download, copy (including copy by reference) or distribute any content without prior permission and/or licensing. Please read my Copyright Statement.