Yesterday was a blast. Not only did I have dinner out with a bunch of fun ladies but I also got my photography fix with a fellow photo-hound.

photo-hound: [fotoh-hound]
Noun-
1. Someone who is nuts enough to stand outside in the cold and wind for an hour waiting for a super full moon or supermoon to rise hoping to capture a once-in-18-years occurrence. The moon was full and at its perigee, at 2:10pm EDT, 19 March 2011. The pictures below show the moon cresting over a small hill behind the Cape Henry Lighthouse at approximately 7:47pm EDT.

It was quite enjoyable to share this experience with my friend and we both geeked out with our camera equipment and mobile apps, not to mention the fact that I felt safer standing in the dusk in a remote area with nary a soul around. She’s a fairly new photo-hound and I love watching her photography improve with every picture. That’s not to say I don’t have any room for improvement. We all know, as photographers, there’s always room to grow and learn unless you’re Annie Leibovitz, Joe McNally, Peter Lik, or the master Ansel Adams – just to name a few.

My friend and I were pre-positioned thanks to an amazing app, The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) which can be downloaded via Apple App Store for use on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod. A desktop version is also available. You plug in or search for your position or desired location and the lines-of-bearing and times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are provided for you layered on a graphical map, satellite, or hybrid view.

Lessons learned:

1. Bring more warm clothing. I underestimated the temperature drop and shivered the entire time which doesn’t help when you’re trying to keep the camera steady. Of course, this meant that I definitely had to enable “mirror lock-up” and “self-timer”.

2. The moon will only be a dot in the final image unless you have at least a 400mm or longer focal length. To determine the final size of the moon on the digital film use this equation….

image size on film = focal length / 109

At a focal length of 200mm, the moon will measure 1.83mm in the final image. However, the moon illusion phenomena which causes the moon to appear larger when it is nearer to the horizon helped make the the images below pleasing to the eye. Had we been much farther away, the moon would have been proportionately larger and more equivalent in size to the lighthouse.

3. Clouds diffuse the light of the moon which means you won’t be able to capture the details of craters and meteor impact lines even when properly exposed.

4. The moon rising on this night actually looked more like the sun setting or rising. That is due to the fact that there was approximately 2-3 stops EV difference between the sky/landscape and the moon. Had the sun just set, the EV difference would have been lower but the sun had set 15 minutes prior to moonrise but 30 minutes prior to when we started seeing the moon crest over the hill which ties in to #5.

5. Typically EV (exposure value) of the moon = EV of the sky if you can see the moon during the daytime. More pleasing moon images in terms of landscape photography are taken when the moonrise or moonset time is a few minutes before sunset or after sunrise respectively. Determining the correct exposure value that will produce a pleasing twilight sky and a detailed moon can be tricky. Here are a couple of links that discuss this in a more intelligible and mathematical format: calphoto.com & Keith’s Moon Photography

Sure, I could have taken an image of the properly exposed moon and photoshopped it into the picture but what you see here is what I saw last night. It still makes for a pretty picture, don’t you think? Despite the moon lacking detail, I can now say my friend and I have images of a rare celestial / astronomical event and a few more hours towards forging a long lasting friendship. Meteor showers, solar eclipses, and lunar eclipses, I have not yet attempted. Those are certainly more technically challenging.

If you took any supermoon pictures, post a link in the comments. I’d love to see them.

---

Sunset, pre-moonrise view of the old and new Cape Henry Lighthouses.

Black and white view of Cape Henry Lighthouse from observation deck.

Supermoon rising behind Cape Henry Lighthouse and diffusing clouds.

Zooming in on the moon rising behind Cape Henry Lighthouse. Looks more like a sunset or sunrise.

A car passing by seen only by its tail and headlights. 13 second exposure at ISO 800 f/14. I’d like to say I planned this but it happened purely by accident.

Properly exposed moon after the sun had fully set and completely below the horizon. The focus is quite soft and not one of my best shots. f/22, ISO 800, Tv 1/15 sec, cropped, and enlarged.