Or “Blood Moon,” if you prefer. David and I watched a bit of the lunar eclipse early this morning. We didn’t think we would see much of it due to the cloud cover from yesterday’s storms, but we were pleasantly surprised. I also didn’t expect to get a couple of half-way decent photos — at least, for little point and shoot. An added bonus, we heard wild turkeys in the woods; and the White-throated Sparrows are still visiting. They have such a distinctive, beautiful song!
So technically, the Supermoon – Full Moon peaked at 6:33 AM, June 23, 2013. These photos were taken at around 12:30 AM, June 24, 2013. A little late, but the moon is absolutely gorgeous tonight! I took a few last night, too; but there really wasn’t anything special about that set. My photos never do the moon justice. They always turn out looking light the sun in a darkened sky. Maybe, one day I’ll have the proper equipment to get the best detail of the moon’s surface, like some of the photos included in the Huffington Post article, ‘Supermoon’ 2013 Photos And Tweets (VIDEO, UPDATES). Until then, I’ll share my best attempts at night photography that my little point and shoot can capture.
I liked the above photo because it looks as if the tree branches are cradling the moon. The one below actually turned out better than I had hoped because of the accidental framing of the badminton net in the lower left-hand corner. The silhouette of the net interested me as much as the framing of the moon.
Sitting outside taking these photos, I noticed something. The birds around here really don’t sleep. I’m pretty sure it was the mocking birds nesting in the bush across the street that were happily singing me a song in every call they’ve ever learned, including the “mew, mew” that sounds like a cat calling. Then again, that could have been the warning call for “the cat is out and about” because shortly after I heard that call my neighbor’s cat came up on the porch to say hello. Sounds good anyway, right? ;P
Numerous sirens and the booming voice from a loud-speaker drew me outside tonight. Neither Cookeville High School nor Tennessee Tech were having football games tonight, so I’m not sure what was going on. I had heard the loud-speaker for hours, though. Something else must be going on at the high school. It sounded too close to be TTU. I went out at just the right time because a jet left a nice contrail right under the moon. If you click on the photo, the link will take you to Flickr where I have a few of the stars labeled.
My calendar pointed out that today is Peace Day or the International Day of Peace. When I think about peace, I think of all people on the planet – all nations, all individuals, no matter they’re differences – working together to make the world a better place for all living things. To me, this an inspirational thought, one that will move us forward to accomplish great things.
“Imagine” by John Lennon has to be one of the most beautiful, meaningful songs ever written. I decided to record myself playing it today in honor of International Peace Day. No words, just me banging on the keyboard. 😉
Via Flickr:
Technically, this is a composite of two photos. I really liked this shot, but I had to clean up the moon a bit with a shot I took earlier in the evening. In this later photo, the moon glared too much making it look like a much fuller moon than the First Quarter moon that it is. I made sure to match the size pixel for pixel and edited the brightness and contrast to give everything more clarity.
Via Flickr:
Just one more moon shot taken from my living room window close to midnight. The whole sky is lit up tonight. So beautiful!
Via Flickr:
That’s the moon, by the way, LOL. ;P It looks so much bigger in real life. Photos just don’t do it justice.
