A little earlier I photographed the Super Pink Moon rising (Read more…) and I normally don’t shoot a full moon directly without any other context, but it is so clear tonight and I already had the camera ready, so why not!
Super Pink Moon – April 7, 2020 – São Marcos da Serra
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Tonight’s full moon, known as the Wolf Moon in January was also a Penumbral Eclipse. A Penumbral Eclipse is when the Earth blocks the sunlight reaching the moon’s surface, but in this instance, only a small section of the Earth’s outer shadow (known as the Penumbra) covers the moon.
If you look closely, using the moon as a clock face you will notice a darker shadow at between 4 and 5 o’clock.
A last minute plan of a Full Moon Rise went as I suspected…….badly. I had a feeling that what I had planned wasn’t going to work and I was right, but it was still worth the drive to the dam of the Barragem de Odelouca. I arrived just after sunset and could hear what I thought was Barn Owls at the actual dam, then looking overhead I saw the shape of Red-necked Nightjar which was soon confirmed when it landed and started it’s “raygun” sounding call.
Realising the shot was not to be, I decided to go for a Plan B shot and went to a totally minimalistic silhouette shot of it rising behind the distant tree line.
I went out on a scouting mission today to find a spot where I could frame a ruin Windmill as a foreground to the Super Moon Rise. Everything was looking good…….until a large rain storm blew across the horizon. It remained for a few hours blocking the view of the Moon Rise.
I don’t normally shoot a full moon without any other elements in the shot, but decided to take this shot as a consolation prize.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}Tonight was a spectacle, the Full Moon Rise coincided with the Sunset at 7:30pm.
I headed to a ridge behind the famous Windmill at Silves and using PhotoPills on my phone I was able to determine exactly where the Moon would rise.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}Finally! I’ve managed to pick the camera up since moving to Portugal! It was a rush to get in the right spot (even though it’s in the land next to ours!).
I couldn’t turn down the Supermoon. It’s not the greatest quality shot but considering it was a bit of a rush to set everything up, I’m just happy to have a photo to show.
The photo is made up from 2 separate shots of the scene. One focused and metered on the Moon and the other on the landscape with a remote flash to light the ruin. A camera can’t capture a shot like this in one photo like the human eye can see it, so it’s the only way to capture it. The 2 shots have then been merged in Photoshop.
{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}
