Maybe The Best Phone Picture I've Taken...Of The Moon

 I've commented several times on this blog about how there are some things I cannot photograph that turn out as good as what my eyes see. The moon is one of those things. I've got a nice DSLR camera and a lens that brings the moon to show up nicely in the frame. But, when I click the shutter, the finished product fails to impress.

Bummer.

I can't seem to capture the shadows on the moon, the craters, the Sea of Tranquility. I'm sure if I did a little research on how to photograph the moon, and more importantly, spent a ton of money on photographic gadgets, I could do it. I'm sure I could, but I haven't, so my moon photos don't look that good.

Last night, the skies above our valley were stunning. As the sun set, I spent a lot of time trying to capture what I was seeing. I also noticed the waxing moon in the southern sky so I snapped a picture. In the photo I can see craters and a texture to the moon. I call that a success.

My phone is a few years old, and I'm sure it's going to be with me for a few years more. The camera was almost state-of-the-art when my phone was new. It's nowhere near that, now. Would I love a newer phone with better cameras? Sure. Do I need one? Nope.

It was fun to go through my photos from last night and notice the photo I took of the moon. And even though it's not great, I'm pretty sure it's the best one I've ever taken...

Of the moon...

By phone.

Playing Around With My Phone's Panorama Camera Function...Shooting Up

It took a me a long time to figure out that the panorama camera function on my phone wasn't just for shooting a wide landscape shot.

It can also shoot up....

Or, I suppose, down, if needs be.

Of course, you have to turn your camera horizontal to take a vertical panorama shot, which, is weird because you have to turn your camera horizontal to take a horizontal shot in normal mode.

Tonight's sunset didn't have much color near the western horizon, but higher up, it was gorgeous. Taking a normal vertical shot would not have done it justice, so I utilized the panorama function and I think it turned out well.

Here's a few examples.

I use my phone everyday (like most of us...) and a majoritty of my Pics Of The Day are from my phone. It's an old phone, too--ancient in technological years--but I'll keep using it. It keeps taking pictures I'm glad to share.

I Finally Got It...A Sharp Picture Of The Moon

Years ago, I'm not exactly sure how many, we were gifted a telescope from my father-in-law. A telescope is one of those things that many people get and enjoy, but it's also a thing that can sit in a corner and collect dust. 

If you've been following this blog for the past couple of weeks, you know we've been de-cluttering our home. You can probably guess what has happened to our telescope over the years. It wasn't used. It wasn't used because the small--and important--parts that make the telescope work, i.e. the small lenses you use that focus the object you're wanting to see close-up, were missing. They were put away and we didn't know where they were. Without the lenses, the telescope is basically a long tube on a tripod.

We even considered donating it to the thrift store.

But, that didn't happen--it didn't happen because my wife decided to clean up yet another room in the house. It was there she found the lenses that make the telescope work.

I couldn't wait to try it.

On the same day we found the lenses, I set up the telescope on the front porch as soon as night fell and an almost full moon rose in the east.

Finally, I could see the moon. My next goal--to get a picture.

I've been trying to get a good shot of the moon for years. I only had my iPhone cameras, my point-and-click cameras, and my Nikons. Nothing worked. I just got a big white ball in the sky. Now that I could see the moon, how was I going to take a picture. I ended up taking out my phone and holding it over the top of the lens. It took some patience, but I was finally able to get a good shot.

Twenty-four hours earlier, the whole family sat on the same porch watching a lunar eclipse and a blood moon. If we had only cleaned the room one day before, then the lenses would have been found and I could have set up the telescope during that amazing event. Oh well...next lunar eclipse/blood moon, I'll be ready!

Fidgeting Around...

There's a fidget spinner on my desk at work. There's also a phone that sits atop my desk because from my phone comes podcasts, talk radio shows, and audiobooks.

But the phone also has a camera--not the best phone camera that's out there right now, but it's pretty good. The spinner sits just below one of the monitors, waiting to be played with, waiting to exercise those fidget needs that crop up from time to time when you're putting in ten-hour shifts.

Last week, I succumbed to the lure of the spinner (while on a break, of course...). I also picked up the phone and experimented with the video options on the phone. It's kind of hypnotic.

Here's what I came up with.

To be honest, I thought the visuals of the fidget spinner spinning would be cooler. I thought it would be more interesting. I suppose it is interesting, in it's own way--just not as interesting as I thought it would be.

I videoed it spinning at regular speed, at slow-motion, and at time-lapsed.

I don't fidget with the spinner too much at work, and since I videoed it, I've not touched it at all. When I do pick it up again, I'll probably not videotape it.

Then again, you never know...

Two Of My Favorite Things...Summer Rainstorms And The Camera On My Phone

I was interrupted this afternoon by the sound of a great August storm roll through the valley. Unfortunately I was working or I would have sat on the porch, smelled the moisture-filled air, and watched as water fell from heaven.

It's one of my favorite things.

Another favorite thing is the incredible camera on my phone. I know it's not the best phone camera out there, but I don't care. It's light-years away from the first phone camera I had (I think it was a Nokia...) and I can do things with that phone that I could never imagine doing on my Olympus OM-10 (and I loved my OM-10...).

This afternoon, as the storm ebbed, these two loves came together. I took out the phone and recorded a video using the slo-mo feature. In normal speed it's just random drops hitting the top of our recycle trash receptacle. But slowed down, it's poetry.