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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I bet some of you were getting excited about a bright pink moon in the sky tonight, but its name doesn’t mean it will be pink. It refers to the time of year coinciding with the spring bloom of flowers. However, the setting sun did cast a slight colour cast over the whole sky.
Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, I decided to snap a shot from the garden and lined up for a distant ridge with the 500mm f/4 attached.
There was a lot of cloud in the sky but I was lucky to see it pop out from behind cover which actually had a small amount of sunset colour still reflecting off. Not the most exciting moon shot I’ve taken, but still great to see it rising above the ridges here in the Algarve hills.
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.
Yet another fantastic sunset tonight with the sky lit up in spectacular fashion. I was sitting drinking a Sagres (Portuguese beer) and just couldn’t resist grabbing the camera with 500mm lens to take a shot of a nearby ridge silhouetted by the glowing sky. The Crescent Moon was low in the sky as it was setting soon after sunset.
To assist with exposing the Moon correctly, I used exposure bracketing and merged 2 of the shots together.
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Yes, I know this post is actually now the day after, but I did take the shot just before 11:57pm so it counts!
I wasn’t born at the time, but I can only imagine the excitement of watching it live on TV 50 years ago. The moon fascinates me due to the fact that I can see it, but I know I’ll never get to go there.
It seemed only right that I took a shot on this important day.
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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.
