November 13 & 14, 2016
Seems all moon rises are great, especially a full moon, and maybe it’s just me, but my views of the Supermoon rising just don’t look very huge. Plus I’m such a novice at taking night photographs. I keep trying because practice makes better. So… I read about camera settings. I checked out this really cool site, the Photographer’s Ephemeris, which shows exactly which direction all the moon and sun rises and sets are for whatever location I want. Of course I did forget to take vegetation in consideration. And then there’s the 4200+ foot (1280 m) Bradshaw Mountains to the east making for a higher horizon line than shows on my Google Sky phone app. But all in all… I took 100s of photos and got a few that aren’t too bad. Like I said, practice makes better.
The first night, November 13, I didn’t wander far from home. Structures behind the trees to the right are in the RV Park where I live.
I kept checking the app, looking at the moon below the horizon, and trying to guess its trajectory to set up foreground. Hoped it was a hillside. Then I waited. No hillside. Still I waited. I waited about 20 minutes beyond the predicted moon rise. And got trees.
Which turned out to be rather fun as I moved around just a bit for different patterns in front of the moon.
The following night I drove to the nearby post office with a large and safe parking lot and a better open view of the mountains. Very quiet place. This is ranch country and I love to see the windmills.
Unfortunately I couldn’t line it up with moon rise. So I focused on the nearest hilltops instead. And waited. Sunset was soft due to lack of clouds. Venus and Mars glowed bright. I’m not very good at waiting.
Eventually a light glow appeared and I snapped off a lot of fuzzy pics of that. Suddenly the moon crested the hilltop and my camera settings were entirely wrong so all that can be seen in photos is a glowing white blob. By the time I made adjustments the moon was clearly visible. Surprising how quickly it rises.
A night light on the building behind me cast an interesting shadow and caught me in the act.
Wonder if I’ll still be around for the next really big one in 2034. And if at 80 years old will still be able to hold the camera steady. 
Linked to Skywatch Friday
Your moon shots were excellent.
Thank you Rosemary.
HI Gaelyn,
Seems to me your photographs are much better than what you give yourself credit for. You are so correct that for all practical purposes the Supermoon was like most other Full Moon Rises. It is true that the Moon was a bit bigger and brighter, but our eyes really can not quantify the increase. If I was still doing my evening program, I would definitely ask permission from you to use one or two of your photos in my program. In the second and third photo of the Moon, the Earth Shadow is clearly visible.
Thanks George, I truly appreciate hearing that from you. If I keep making photos they should keep getting better. Night photography is a new challenge. Wow, I did unknowingly catch the Earth shadow and was concerned it was just post processing. Visitors still ask if you’ll have the scope out.
Very nice photos of the moon rising:) At least you got to see it in a clear sky:) Thanks for sharing:)
Thanks. Sorry to hear your sky wasn’t clear. What’s up with that. Thought you were in sunny FL. 😉
Wow Gaelyn despite all your concerns, your pictures are terrific. The third one is my favorite. I love it coming up behind the trees and I love the great big lightly orange ball at the end and the shadow of you outside doing it. All GREAT! What fun to see them. Thanks!
Thanks Sherry. Of course you didn’t see all the shots I took that sucked. I’m learning.
I especially love the ones with the trees. Adds a lot of interest.
Thanks Colleen. I agree. Without a bigger lens and way more planning the trees made a good foreground.
I think you got some great pictures!! I love the moon coming up over the hills and the trees. Also it seems that the lower moons have a bit more color. Great job.
Thanks. Your shot is so crisp. I think the color is more prominent closer to the horizon line.
I think your moon shots are excellent. I find I cannot get the settings right at all and I was looking forward to trying with the super-moon. As you have gathered we never even saw it due to total cloud cover, and now rain is till forecast for the next week!! We did need rain but do we have to have it every day now! Take care Diane
Thanks Diane. Even after reading about settings I screwed up. Sorry you had clouds, and now the much needed rain. Try again Dec 14th.
These are beautiful shots! Getting good moon photos is so difficult. I’m often disappointed with my moon shots, and feel like they looked so much better that what the camera was able to capture. My post this week talks about this a bit.
You know I do bracket, but should have tried a larger range on that to get what you’re talking about with composition. Will try again next month. Thanks for tips, and compliment. Your shots are amazing.
Great shots.
Sydney – City and Suburbs
Thank you.
Lovely shots.
Thank you Parul.