New Year's Eve - Going Out in Supermoon Style at Yosemite National Park

The last Supermoon of 2017 fell on the last day of the year.  I'm not much of a party person anyway, so when I heard that the moon was set to rise approximately 1 hour before sunset and directly between El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite, I knew I had to be there.  

I made the roughly 3.5 hour drive to the park (luckily I have a National Park pass so didn't have to pay the entrance fee) and made it up to Tunnel View just in time to take the last parking space in the first lot!

There were so many photographers lined up, but most of them were hoping for a gorgeous Yosemite sunset.  I got a primo place in line and sat on the cold, stone wall to wait.  Of course I had to take some photos!  The view is amazing!

This photo shows Tunnel View in all it's glory.  You have El Capitan on the left, Half Dome in the middle and Bridalveil Falls near the right.

There was a really nice photographer who had an amazing camera that he purchased in Europe.  He was using Polaroid type film and hoping to capture the tableau in a similar fashion to Ansel Adams.  

He mentioned to me that when Ansel Adams was trekking all over Yosemite before it was a national park, there were no trails and no digital cameras!  He carried a 100 lb pack, 50 lbs of which was camera equipment. 

As I mentioned, there were photographers lined up on either side of me, including a dumb dude with a drone that he flew down the valley messing up some other photographers shots.  There were a lot of complaints around me (and I called him dumb because it's illegal to fly drones over National Parks and he could have been arrested). 

He was somewhere far down the line to my left.

And cool camera guy and more were to my right.

Here's a closer look at Bridalveil Falls. 

And the only little bit of snow I saw was up much higher, behind the vista. 

There were so many planes flying over!  I'm assuming it's a favorite thing for pilots to point out to their passengers and all of the contrails really added to the clouds!

More Tunnel View!  The moon was actually starting to rise at this point, but we couldn't see it.  

I decided to try a capture of Half Dome Ansel Adams (black and white) style. 

I loved the clouds!

And then, FINALLY, it happened!

The Man in the Moon!

I'll probably create some composite shots later, but I was really happy to get quite a bit of detail in both the landscape and the moon itself. 

And here she is in all her glory.  Beautiful.

I love the next couple because you can see the stars and still see some detail in the landscape.  

Okay, and this one is a semi-silly one.  But let me tell you a little story about it's weirdness.  

I have long had the idea to do a "cape series" because I like mystical looks and thought it would be fun to incorporate a model in a cape at some of my night shoots and maybe even some day ones!  

But I didn't have a model to go with me, so I decided to throw on the old cape (which was in my trunk from another shoot) and set my timer and take a running jump onto the stone wall to get a shot for my cape series.

Well, first two attempts I didn't get far enough into the picture.  And on the third attempt, I guess this old, fat chick was tired!  I made it up onto the wall, but almost pitched forward into the great abyss!  lol  Luckily I was able to catch myself and not fall and righted myself just as I heard the shutter click.  haha!  Good times.  Also luckily, there were only a few people left who laughed at the crazy old lady in the cape, jumping up on the wall. 

By this time, I was freezing (all that exercise not withstanding!) and decided to hit the road.  However, on my way out, I was amazed at how beautiful Yosemite Falls looked in the glorious, bright moonlight, so I pulled over again and risked getting eaten by a bear to try to get some shots.

I like this second one with the traffic.  lol  

Okay, now I was REALLY frozen!  My feet especially so I decided to head out for real this time.  My only stop was when a beautiful eight-point buck decided to leisurely cross Highway 120 in front of my car.  What an altogether magical night!  BranDee and Jill, you really should have joined me ladies!!  I wouldn't have almost killed myself jumping on that wall!  

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Hot Springs and Supermoons! - 11/13/16

I have been looking forward to the November 2016 Supermoon for months!  Seriously, months! 

In case you're not a geek like me, November's full moon was a "Supermoon" which is when a full moon occurs when the elliptical orbit of the moon brings it closest to earth. Not only was this a Supermoon, but it was the closest the moon has come to Earth since 1948!  AND it's the closest it will be until 2034!  

So I really wanted to try to get some amazing shots of this special celestial occurrence.  I had some pretty good success on my last dedicated Supermoon shoot in 2013.  That was just from my balcony, so this time I wanted to get away from all the light pollution and try for something extra. 

I definitely got extra!!

Perigee (closest point to Earth) was actually set for the early morning hours of Monday, November 14th.  But I had to be at work fairly early, so I decided to try my luck on the evening of the 13th. Since it was a Sunday, it also allowed me to do some other stuff.  That turned out to be getting some work done on my car after running over a big piece of metal that fell off a semi right in front of me the day before.

And then setting off for Mono County, where the moon was due to rise at approximately 4:45, right as the sun was due to be setting over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the West.  Perfect. 

But first, I wanted to scope out Travertine Hot Springs.  I had tried to stop by on my previous trip to Mono Lake and the amazing Bodie Ghost Town.  But I just didn't have time.  This time, I was more determined.

But I did stop to take some photos of the beautiful landscape. 

Science experiment:  Edit from a darker exposure

Science experiment:  Same shot but edit from a lighter exposure

Of course I did not realize that the main tubs would be SOOOOO crowded!  I knew these springs are popular, but there were quite a few folks when I got there about 3:30 p.m.

So I opted to hike around and take some photos.  I didn't even go up to the main four tubs.  Which are located in these cliffs...

These main tubs are located at the top of a hill.  And the small valley below is quite spectacular.  I'm soooo, so lucky to have been there when the sun was just about to set.  It made for AMAZING pictures!  I did not Photoshop any lens flare or sun rays into any of these photos.  Nature did it for me because I am just not that good in Photoshop. 

You can see water which is a sort of marsh created by the runoff from the springs.  There is also white ground that looks like the Bonneville Salt Flats, which is because it is salt.  And minerals, of course.

There was a beautiful pool at the base of the cliff...

...which was FREEZING cold when I dipped my toe in!

I continued meandering around until I heard a soft cough and was startled to find that I wasn't as alone as I thought I was.  A very nice gentleman was sitting in an almost hidden spring below me.  Or rather, he was sitting up on a rock above the hidden spring.  It was actually a very cool, picturesque scene.  After talking with him for a little while (which was a little awkward for me as he seemed to be naked - I guess this might be a good time to mention that Travertine is a clothing optional hot springs), I surprised myself by feeling comfortable enough to ask him if I could take his picture.  I promised that it would be tasteful and discrete and I did not lie. 

Science experiment:  Edit with higher contrast.

Science experiment: Original.

I also spent a bit of time talking to another gentleman I ran into.  He was a Native American local and he told me about when the local tribes considered the area sacred ground. It's sad that it's now a place where the local kids party until sunup frequently.

This gentleman pointed out another spring down below.  It's amazing how camouflaged these things are!  He said that it was his favorite, but unless you get there early in the morning, it's usually taken.  

There was a couple in it as we were speaking, so we both thought it unlikely that it would become vacant.  But to our surprise, the couple got out after about 20 minutes.  I started to leave, but the local gentleman wouldn't hear of it and said he insisted I stay.  So I did.  

This is the "hot tub" from below.  You can barely see it!  Hint:  It's to the right of the photo behind the log. 

Surprise!  You can see the spring running through the green crevice and gently falling into the natural pool below. 

I'm assuming that these logs were put there by some enterprising person to make seats and maintain the natural look.

It was so amazing.  The water was hot like a bathtub and it was just so cool to be out in nature like this.  I didn't go clothing optional, but I did go topless and it was heaven.  

But it was getting close to sun set time and I didn't want to miss the moon, which was my main reason for being there!  So after soaking for about 20 minutes, I hiked back.

Eeek!  The sun was actually setting and I wasn't even back to my car yet!

I raced back to the highway and headed towards the lake as fast as possible.  I just made it!!

I stopped at the vista point overlooking Mono Lake and grabbed some shots of the Moonrise at Sunset.  None of these photos are composite or retouched except for exposure/contrast.  

Mono Lake was bathed in the shimmery colors of sunset too. 

  

This orange cast on the moon was from the sunset.  There is very little pollution up in the high desert and I was sooo fortunate to catch the moon during the sunset!

I converted this photo into black and white.  Because it's cool.  :-} 

Soon the sun was down and the moon was a brightly-shining white globe in the indigo sky.  After one last photo... 

...I jumped back in my car and sped down 395 to try to get some shots over the water.

I was tempted (for a minute) to do a composite photo so I would have a photo over the water with detail in the moon, but I decided not to. 

For now.  ;-p

Thanks Moon.  Thanks Mother Nature. 

Amazing. 

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Super Blood Moon - Eclipse September 27, 2015 Sacramento California

I was so excited to hear about the Super Blood Moon - the fairly rare occurrence of a Super Moon eclipse.  

A Super Moon is a moon that is a full moon at it's perigee, or closest point to Earth in it's slightly oblong orbit.  It makes it look super large, especially at moonrise when it's close to the horizon.  And, become of the remnants of light that comes around the earth from the sun, the moon is tinged red when it is eclipsed.  It's a photographer's dream. 

We decided to go out to the River Road (where I attempted my last shots of a Super Moon...they all turned out terrible BTW); I had refreshed my memory on night shooting on my camera but it's always something that is fraught with stress because I tend to forget and get frustrated.  haha  I was determined that this was going to work.  

In a scene straight out of The Birds, as soon as we parked on the levee, a huge flock of crows flew over and started circling us, cawing loudly.  They eventually settled down into the trees.

  

It was a gorgeous day, but unfortunately, there was a thick cloud layer just along the Eastern horizon.  The moon in Sacramento was going to rise almost fully eclipsed, so having part of it being obscured by the clouds was a disappointment.  

In addition to the crows, we were treated to the loud honking of Canadian Geese that flew overhead in their customary V formation. 

However, the clouds in the sunset were stunning.  So I contented myself with capturing some of the purple and orange beauty.

I also dabbled with long exposure when I saw a few planes in the sky.  My result??

Of course when I was facing West trying to catch some weird picture, one of the older ladies near us asked "Is that it?"  I turned and it was about halfway out of the clouds, looking red and malevolently beautiful.

As expected, at this point it was almost fully-eclipsed. But that's okay; I was so happy I could get a couple of pictures with the dark trees in them!

You can just see the slight, orangey looking rim on the right bottom.  That was the only part not covered by the Earth's shadow. 

So at this point, we decided to head home while the full eclipse was happening.  I had neglected to think about how standing by a river on a warm, humid night would make us choice mosquito dinner.

By the time we got home about 25 minutes later, the moon was starting to come out of the eclipse.  Now you can see the white rim on the opposite side...lower left.

Little bit more...

And now halfway there!  Note:  I took this through tree branches thinking it would make a "cool" effect.   

And now, because so much of the extremely bright moon was visible, I had to switch settings and go to a higher aperture and shorter shutter speed in order to get some detail in the moon.  Consequently, most of the red effect from the shadow is taken away.  To the naked eye, it still looked tinged with red but not nearly as much. 

We're almost there!

As the red from the shadow was receding, I decided to try some different white balance settings.  I think, especially beside the red photos, it looks over compensated and almost blue.  But still gorgeous!

This one I darkened slightly in order to bring out all the detail in the moon. So amazing. 

And here's the final finished product.  A gorgeous, bright-white Super Moon!

All photos taken by ME! with my Nikon D3000, Nikon ED Nikkor 70-300 lens.  I absolutely used a tripod and also used the timer button to lessen vibration since I do not have a remote.  Actually I do but it doesn't work.  Thanks camera store. 

The early photos with full/mostly full eclipse were taken with ISO 200, Shutter speeds up to 8 seconds, and aperture set at f5.6 (the lowest my lens will go).  After half of the bright moon was exposed, I switched to 1/125 Shutter speed, aperture between f8-f11 (same ISO).

Next I will tackle star trails!  Hope you enjoy my photos and story as much as I did creating them. 

xoxo