Moon Light

My quest to photograph every 2010 full moon is off to an interesting start. The January full moon rise was only 15 minutes before sunset, and with the sky darkened by storm clouds, and the moon taking at least 40 minutes to clear the local hills, I didn't have much light to work with. With the thick clouds, I was afraid I might not see the moon at all. I could only hope that there would be a break in the clouds at the right time and place.
I was so excited to see this first glow of light.In this second photo, there is more here than just glow.

If you look very closely, you can make out
the top edge of the moon as it peeks over the hill.

I didn't realize what I had captured in this third photo until I saw it on my computer. Look closely again and you can see the shape of almost the whole sphere. I cropped this quite a bit so the moon would be bigger and easier to recognize. This was the last shot of the moon I got that night. It disappeared behind the clouds and even though I waited patiently for over an hour, it never showed itself again.

I enjoyed being out at night. When was the last time you were out at night? I mean actually outside, not just away from home after dark. It's a little strange and wonderful at the same time. As I took my attention away from the moon I could no longer see, I marveled at the colors still in the sky. If it hadn't been so muddy, I would have sat down and just looked up for awhile. When the rain started to fall, I went home.

That was on Friday night. On Saturday night, I had a plan to shoot a reflection of the moon in one of the many puddles around town. For this, I had to wait until the moon was well up in the sky. There I was, out again after dark. My plan didn't work out very well because puddle water is pretty muddy and the moon looked pretty bland. Then I thought of the pond in Community Park. I didn't get the photo I had imagined, but I like this shot with the moon reflection and the Centennial Recreation Center in the background.

And I liked wandering around outside again after dark.

After the Rain

Ahhh, finally a break from the rain. As much as I enjoy it and as much as we need it, cabin fever had set in, and so on Saturday, as soon as I saw the sun was out, I set out. I wanted to photograph, but mainly I just wanted to be outside. I had a plan, but I was open to any photo opportunity that presented itself. My first destination was a red barn I spotted several months ago. I thought the green hills, blue sky, and white clouds would be a good combination. I was right.

As I drove on, I was on the look out for puddle reflections. I headed for an orchard that I thought might be flooded. It wasn't exactly a lake, but there was a lot of standing water. I had to wait for a huge black cloud to pass overhead so I could get blue sky in the reflection, but I didn't mind waiting. It was a beautiful day and I was happy to be outside.

My next stop was Coyote Creek. I was still looking for reflections since that is the photography club's January theme. I parked along side the road and walked until I saw a spot where I could move in closer to the creek. I liked the way these leaves framed the reflection of the trees on the other bank. Since the creek is swollen from such recent rainfall, it is still quite muddy. I hiked down a bit farther and saw this pretty scene.

And then I looked down and saw this.

More rain is due in this afternoon and Monday and Tuesday.
I don't mind.

I had my day in the sun.

Pinnacles National Monument

The photography club held a shoot-out at the 26,000 acre Pinnacles National Monument, located some 60 miles south of Morgan Hill in the southern end of the Gabilan Mountain Range.

The monument was founded to protect a unique ecosystem that includes rolling chaparral, dramatic rock formations, talus caves (formed by huge, falling boulders that became wedged in narrow fractures), and a diverse mix of plants and animals.
The park has over 30 miles of hiking trails. We chose the one that would take us through the caves and up to the photographically desirable Bear Gulch Reservoir, which was only one mile away. The caves are fairly easy to negotiate if you are just carrying a flashlight (necessary), but I was also packing a camera, a bag with an extra lens, and a tripod. Trying to stay balanced while sidestepping through rocks that were only 18 inches apart, ducking under boulders with only a 3 foot clearance, and sliding down on my bum, all the while holding onto the tripod and trying to shield the camera from dents & dings, was a challenge. That short, one mile hike , which ended with 100 steps up from the last cave exit, took over an hour. As wonderful as the caves were, please imagine my relief and happiness as I cleared the last step, looked up, and saw this pretty, little reservoir.

Ranger Tammy was just waiting for some hikers to show up to hear her presentation on the park; specifically, the reservoir and how and why it was built (by the CCC to help control the amount of water that runs through the caves). We were a willing audience, quite content to sit and rest for a few minutes.After working up a sweat in the caves, the cold temperature felt refreshing, but the overcast meant no blue skies for our photographs. I reconciled this by composing pictures that included just a bit of sky or none at all. The beauty is not in the color, but in the forms and reflections.

I like this next photo because you can hardly tell
where the rocks end and the reflections begin.

We were not up to tackling the caves again,
so we took a different path back,
one that included some beautiful vistas.
Once again, I kept the gray sky to a minimum...

or out of the composition completely.I enjoyed concentrating on the smaller aspects of the scenery.
The diffused light was perfect for photographing
the colorful rocks.

The San Andreas Fault is only a stone's throw away from the park. I couldn't help but think of earthquakes as I clambered through the caves, trudged up the steps, and hiked around giant boulders.

This was a delightful photographic escapade
You can see more photos of the Pinnacles on my Flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

Happy New Year

Once in a blue moon...

A blue moon is a second full moon in the same month, or a fourth one in a season. It happens only about every two and a half years: thus the phrase, "once in a blue moon." The next one will occur in August, 2012. I couldn't scout ahead of time for a location for this one because in the days preceding the full moon, thick cloud cover obscured all light. On Thursday evening, I still wasn't sure the moon would shine through, but I returned to a location I had used previously, set up my tripod and camera, and hoped and waited. I was not disappointed. The moon was beautiful and the clouds provided some unexpected special effects.

I am more of a lunatic than ever.

My goal is to photograph every full moon for a year.