chuckography

"When the moon hits your eye...."

We all saw it coming.

A SUPER full moon was to rise on Sunday night so my Photography Group looked skyward.

Some were on High Battery downtown, others took pictures at home from their backyards.

Another was overlooking Bohicket Creek near the Edisto River.

A few "tested" the moon the night before and had some fantastic SHARP results.

The real 100% moonrise was delayed by clouds close to the horizon and a general fuzziness caused by thin wispy clouds.

As I walked toward High Battery by White Point Gardens, I hoped I would be able to locate the group members who said they would be there with their cameras.

Yep, there they are.

Waiting patiently for the appointed hour, it had a party atmosphere.

People moved their tripods about, trying to anticipate when the moon would pop over the horizon and drift above Ft. Sumter.

Passersby stopped to ask "What's going on?"

"Why are you all here," asked a lady from Ohio.
She was in town, enjoying the sights and this moon crowd was an added attraction. She pointed out that we were not facing the area where the sun would set.

Group member Rick Coakley had brought his longest - and largest - lens to capture the moment.

Another member, Tim Terrrebonne, on the left, got wrapped up in the moment and went to retrieve his camera, tripod, etc. from his car.

He reminded others that a lens could fog up for a few minutes with the change in temperature and humidity from car to seawall.

His did fog but he was able to see it clear before the moon appeared.

Tim had taken a great shot a few weeks before so he was an experienced moon stalker.

The rest of us spread out along the elevated portion of the Battery, watching the higher-than-normal tide lap against the wall.

Some practiced by focusing on passing yachts and other vessels.

Someone asked, so I mentioned that Ft. Sumter is about 3 miles directly in front of us.

The moon would be 238,900 miles away so setting focus on "infinity" would probably work best on our cameras.

Reading up on the subject, it was suggested that a landmark or object be in the picture to show a sense of scale.

The 3-masted schooner probably would not be in the same place when the moon rose.

It turns out that most of us on the Battery zoomed in to fill the frame  with the orange-colored globe.

My brother Dennis set up his camera in his Summerville back yard,

He saved driving all the way downtown and caught the moon as it peeked over the horizon above a neighbor's house.



One of the nicest shots I've seen was shot over Bohicket Creek.

Taken just after the moon cleared the low clouds.

It is seen extra large because it was closer to the earth than usual.

This was planned and snapped by member Elizabeth Gayle Lewis Wenner and is included in the album posted by the Photography Group.

The link is at the top of the page.

There was a second chance to shoot a slightly smaller Super Moon on Monday night.

(Click on the photos for more detail.)

Focus was NOT affected by the moon being closer.

It was still 384,400 km away.

Give or take a few kilometers.

Labels: Charleston seawall, Dennis Boyd, Elizabeth Gayle Lewis Wenner, high battery, moon stalker, White Point Gardens

posted by chuckography @ 4:17 PM