diff --git a/_posts/2024-8-20-blue-supermoon.md b/_posts/2024-8-20-blue-supermoon.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1bc4cbd --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2024-8-20-blue-supermoon.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: Taking a photo of the Blue Supermoon +image: /photos/2024/08/_1250588_blue_supermoon.JPG +date: 2024-08-20 16:21:54 +CEST +--- + +Last year around this time I took some pictures of the [supermoon](/photos/2023/08/_1220408_supermoonrise_01.html), that technically happened on August 30th but due to a few technical challenges (ie. me hearing my 3 AM alarm in my sleep and proceeding to *dream* that I'd taken the photo, never actually getting out of bed) I had to test my luck again the next day. It went for the better though, because it was actually full that day and I was able to catch it rising on the Adriatic right after dusk which made a great photo. + +Now, I had no idea that there'd be another supermoon this year in August, but I learned just yesterday, August 19th, that this night's moon would have been a supermoon. And not just your regular supermoon, but a Blue Supermoon, so the 4th full moon since the start of the season. + +I heard about it at 19:00. ...The moonrise was at 20:00. + +I *ran* to my car and decided to go for a little ride along the coastline, since I learned just the other day, that on the Jonian sea you can actually catch both the sunrise and the sunset, as the sea is facing south, not west. This implied that I could also see the moon rising on the sea. Not only that, but the moon was also rising around dusk. If you're unaware, the moon rises about 15-20 minutes later with each passing day, so it was a pretty big deal. + +...I didn't factor in the weather. It was a bit cloudy on the south but I failed to notice (because my house was in the way) that the west sky was completely covered in *very* threatening clouds (nimbostratus, for you cloud nerds reading this). It was already twilight around 8 PM, so I couldn't make out if there were clouds covering the horizon on the *east*, since it was opposite to the sunlight. I had no way to know for sure so I just had to bet my 1€ of gas and take my chances anyway. + +It turns out that while Stellarium showed the moon rising at about 20:05, the moon was already up by then. In fact it was 19:55 when I noticed, to my right, the absolutely, **gigantic**, full, supermoon, already standing there. It was still pretty close to the horizon, so it was a nice dim red. I could see now with the moonlight that there were clouds *just* above it and some thin distant clouds below it. The moon rises quickly, and before you knew it would've been up there behind those clouds. I had to be super quick. + +Here comes the battle against time (and weather). I found a spot to pull over. I *didn't* bring my tripod, but I remembered there was a little fence or wall near the area and hoped I could rest the camera on that. ...There wasn't any. I was visibly confused, but figured I must have stopped too early, tried using my car as a flat surface, failed, and rushed back in to find another spot to pull over. Eventually I noticed some of those flat stone benches you find near the shore, and just by pure luck, some of them were unoccupied. Bingo. I tried just placing the camera on the bench, but the composition was too low and the moon wasn't properly in frame. At this point I had no options left than to just use my legs. I "sat down" on the bench sideways, as to face the rising moon, put my foot on the bench, placed the camera on my knee and tried my best to hold it still. While fiddling around with the settings I noticed that 1/3.2s was the best shutter time, so I had a chance to take it freehand. At this point dark clouds were starting to cover the moon, and I couldn't to a double take. I didn't even check my focus or sharpness, I put my trust fully on the camera for that. + +
+ The blue (actually red) supermoon above the coast. +
+ +...And this is the result. First take. Sure, it's ISO 125, it could have been less noisy had I brought a tripod, but I'm more than happy with it and I'm surprised the focus wasn't incorrect or something. I guess the moon was too big to miss for the autofocus. + +I took another close up photo and then dipped. I want to emphasize *just* how tight the timing was. I arrived minutes before a big thunderstorm, right before the moon got fully covered, just in time to find free parking next to a bench that then got occupied seconds later. All with no planning whatsoever, having heard the news just one hour prior. This one was tough, but it was worth it.