The Moon...And It's Million Stories

 Millions thought about the moon this week, maybe for the first time in a long time.

I looked west tonight, a sliver of light shown just above the horizon, as if a giant eye, tired and heavy blinked a final time before drifting off to sleep.

The moon is like faith...it exists whether or not you can see it, whether or not you can feel its pull, as do the seas. It exists behind clouds, it exists as it hovers over the other side of the earth. It always exists.

Sometimes you see it.

Faith is there, even if you're not looking for it. It is omnipresent. At any given time half the planet can--if they look--see the it, while the other half remains in darkness.

We think about the moon only on certain occasions...when it's full on a cloudless night and it takes our breath away, when at noon day, when you see something in the sky, something white/gray and you realize it's the moon.

Faith can be seen, but not always with your eyes. It can be felt, like the tides to ocean currents. However, we cannot exist solely by always staring into the sky. We must live our lives which requires us to look down, look around, at others, at family, at ourselves. We simply do not have time to always watch the moon, but like faith, knowing it's there helps us to cope, overcome, survive. Because like faith...

The moon is always there.

Thought I Could Finally Take A Good iPhone Moon Picture...Nope

 Nope...still didn't work.

I did a little internet surfing yesterday and I came across a video on how to get a good photograph of the moon using your iPhone. I was so excited. It's something I've literally tried to do it for years.

Of course, I didn't try too hard. I don't think I ever researched how to improve my phone photography skills. Had I done so, I might have found a way to unlock the secret...that elusive secret years ago.

Still, no.

The video demonstrated how to get a good moon photograph. The trick is to not use the "Photo" mode. What you do is go to "Video" mode. Then zoom in and push the screen up. That's where you can adjust the exposure, the amount of light allowed in.

Never new about that.

I was so excited to put my newfound information to the test. Thankfully, we have a cloudless sky tonight. I waited until it was dark, then went outside to capture the beautiful moon almost directly above our house. I followed the instructions to the letter, and...

Still didn't work.

I think it didn't work because I do not have the most advanced iPhone. Mine's not the best camera out there. Perhaps, if I had the latest model, things would look different. It would be nice to have an updated phone, but I'm not going to fork out hundreds of dollars just to get a better moon photo.

However...

If I do one day upgrade, you can bet the first thing I'm going to do is see if I can get a good shot of the moon. I'll let you know how it all works out.

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.

Hiking...With A Cat And The Moon

Yesterday, after dinner, the cat and I took a little hike. We are fortunate enough to live at the base of a mountain--not the highest mountain around, but high enough, and where we live, we can't see the top. Yesterday, as it has happened in the past, our cat followed me up the hill.

A nearly full moon rose above the mountain line and I snapped a few pictures. I also tried capturing the cat as he followed me. Cat's a wily one, and he's getting over a battle wound. I took a few shots.

Of course, the purpose of going up is to see the world below. The sky wasn't the prettiest, nor was it in full sunset mode, but it was beautiful up there, looking down on the valley, at my home, at a place where I grew up and that has changed so much.

Here's just a snippet of what I saw, the valley, the cat, and the moon.

The Moon At The End Of The Road...

The text message came in yesterday afternoon. It was a simple request, can you attend our early-morning meeting before church tomorrow?

Even though I was in the middle of an eight-hour work day at my Halloween gig and that I would be getting hime around 11pm, I agreed to go. It was only an hour-long meeting and I could get some sleep this weekend--it's a long weekend for me. But, it was tough getting up after that alarm went off this morning.

I got dressed and found my way to the car. It wasn't until I turned onto State Street that I saw it, a huge full moon hovering over the island. I knew I had to get a picture of it.

I knew something else as well. I knew the picture wouldn't even come close to the amazing sight I was privileged enough to see. If I had my Nikon and a tripod to set up the shot, maybe. With my little phone--no way. I took the pictures anyway, not necessarily to try and show you, my loyal blog readers, the beauty of the morning view, but as a reminder to me that sometimes agreeing to attend an early-morning church meeting can pay dividends other than helping someone out.

It can mean taking a turn and seeing an autumn moon descend into the a western morning sky.

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!

How (Not...) To Photograph The Moon

Last week there was a full moon and it hit during a time when I could stay up and take pictures. And as it sometimes happens, I caught the same moon above the western horizon as I made my way to work. Both at night and in the morning, I grabbed my camera and began shooting.

I'm sure there are dozens of books and several websites devoted to people like me who want to take good pictures of the moon, but somehow fall short. Normally I can capture pretty much what my eyes sees when I take a picture.

I'm not able to do this when I shoot the moon (in a non-Hearts way...). Getting a photograph of what I'm seeing when I look at the moon is tough.

And it's too bad because few things, in my opinion, are as spectacular as the moon. To get these shots I stopped my car in the middle of the street and took a few pictures. I used my monopod for the night ones, bracing it against the side of the house hoping the slow shutter speed didn't blur the picture too much. I even tried an indoor shot with limited success.

I'm sure if I dedicated hours of research I'd know how to take a better picture of the moon. What scares me is that--along with the research--there are costs involved, lenses, and other things I would "require" in order to get that perfect photograph. Those of you who know how to get on film what your eye sees might be thinking, "No, Scott. You can get the shot you want with limited investment."

When it comes to photography, "limited investment" is something that's not heard often.

So, I have these shots and I like them. No one's going to have them as a screenshot or up on their wall, but when I look at them, it reminds me of how cool it is, either late at night or early in the morning, to see and stare skyward and soak in that beautiful view of the moon.