Category: Moon

September’s Harvest Moon

Posted in Moon, Moonrise, Nikon, Photography, Santa Cruz CA, Walton LighthouseTagged , , , , , , , , 34 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

A friend and I went over the hill to Santa Cruz, CA this month to photograph the Moon rising above Walton Lighthouse.   We both really like having water in the image, and pretty foregrounds.

We knew there wouldn’t be much time to shoot since the Moon would need time to climb to get above the Lighthouse, and it’s getting dark earlier.

When we got out of the car and looked at the horizon and lighthouse we groaned. There was a thick band of fog just sitting on the horizon.  We wouldn’t see the Moon until it got above that! Time wouldn’t be on our side.

The sun had set and the sky was getting darker…finally I saw the top of the Moon above the fog bank.

Harvest Moon 2016

The Moon got high enough for me to make it out almost completely.

2016 Harvest Moon

It finally got out of the Fog only to be obscured again.  I tried to get a few more images, but it was getting too dark to keep the foreground in the image, and I wanted that.  I was also a bit frustrated with the wind, and shaking from the passing cars which shook my rig, and the pier I was photographing from. I deleted quite a few blurry images.

The color of the Moon was gorgeous though, and it was big being so close to the horizon. It would have looked much larger when it was just above that tree line if I could have seen it then.  Maybe next month. 🙂

“The September Moon is called the Harvest Moon or Corn Moon because this is the time to finish harvesting the corn and other crops before Winter. The bright moonlight gives farmers a little extra time to harvest their crops before the first day of Fall. “~sfgate.com

Nikon Df| Nikkor 200-500mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

July’s Buck Moon

Posted in Astrophotography, Civil Twilight, Moon, Moonrise, Nikon, Photography, Santa Cruz CATagged , , , , , , 30 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The July Full Moon is called the “Buck Moon” in North America because male Deer are usually beginning to grow their antlers again in July.
The July Full Moon also has two other names. The Hay Moon; July is when Farmers begin storing their Hay, and the Thunder Moon because of the many thunder storms in the month of July.

I made this image in Santa Cruz, CA. The Moon looks large because it’s close to the horizon. Being on the coast there was a lot of moisture/atmosphere in the air, and the fog was slowly rolling in from the southeast so, the Moon looks a bit diffused.

The Moon was so pretty in the pink reflected light of the Belt of Venus. The pink part of the sky after sunset is called the Belt of Venus. It’s a phenomenon that happens after sunset and before sunrise. “The dark band of the Earth’s shadow at dusk and dawn often has a light pink arch above it, known as the Belt of Venus. It extends about 10-20 degrees up from the horizon, acting as a boundary between the shadow and the sky. The effect is due to the reddened sunlight being backscattered in the atmosphere, which produces the rosy glow.”~http://www.howitworksdaily.com/what-is-the-belt-of-venus/

Full Buck Moon

as the Moon rose higher it began to turn more Golden.

Full Buck Moon Twilight

Then it was time to head home.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 200-500mm| Delkin Digital Film| Tripod

More to come…

Waxing Gibbous Moon and Coit Tower

Posted in Architecture, Civil Twilight, Moon, Moonrise, Photography, San Francisco CA, SunsetsTagged , , , , , , 28 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Moon was 99.9% full last night and my friend Dali asked if I wanted to go up to the city and photograph it over Coit Tower. Of course I said yes!

It was breezy and chilly, but beautiful!

 

Moon and Coit Tower

Coit Tower:

” Coit Tower, a slender white concrete column rising from the top of Telegraph Hill, has been an emblem of San Francisco’s skyline since its completion in 1933, a welcoming beacon to visitors and residents alike. Its observation deck, reached by elevator (tickets can be purchased in the gift shop), provides 360-degree views of the city and bay, including the Golden Gate and Bay bridges.

The simple fluted tower is named for Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy eccentric and patron of the city’s firefighters. Coit died in 1929, leaving a substantial bequest “for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city I have always loved.” The funds were used to build both the tower and a monument to Coit’s beloved volunteer firefighters, in nearby Washington Square. The tower was designed by the firm of Arthur Brown, Jr., architect of San Francisco’s City Hall. Contrary to popular belief, Coit Tower was not designed to resemble a firehose nozzle.” http://sfrecpark.org/destination/telegraph-hill-pioneer-park/coit-tower/

More information about Coit Tower can be found at sfrecpark.org’s link above.

 

I was gone most the week-end so, I’m behind with emails and blogs. I’m playing catch up again. 🙂

Nikon Df| Nikkor 80-200mm @ 145mm| f11| ISO 200| Delkin Digital Film

More to come…

Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

Posted in Blood Moon, Lunar Eclipse, Lune, Moon, Tetrad, Total Lunar EclipseTagged , , , , 14 Comments

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This is the Moon at Maximum or Total Eclipse on September 27, 2015.  We had a little low clouds and thin fog that contributed to the atmosphere. The color was amazing!

This is slightly cropped.

Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

I’m not the only one who thought this Total Eclipse was darker than previous Eclipses. Read SpaceWeather.com’s article regarding the Darker Eclipse here:
http://spaceweather.com/

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| CS6| Tripod

More to come…

P52 40/52 Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

Posted in Blood Moon, Lunar Eclipse, Moon, Old Ships, Point Reyes Wreck, Total Lunar Eclipse, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged , , , , 13 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Blood Moon at Maximum Eclipse over the Wreck of Point Reyes, Inverness, CA. USA.

Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse

Single Exposure slightly cropped| Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Tripod| CS6

More to come…

MM2:5 Watching the Total Lunar Eclipse over St. Ignatius Cathedral San Francisco, CA

Posted in Astro Imaging, Astro-Photography, Blood Moon, Cathedrals, Monochrome Madness2, Moon, Night Photography, Photography, Total Lunar EclipsesTagged , , , , , , 5 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

MM2-5 Watching the Total Lunar Eclipse over St. Ignatius Cathedr

For this week’s Monochrome Madness 2:5 I thought I’d share one of the stills from the Total Lunar Eclipse on April 4, 2015.  This was taken shortly after the Partial Phase got started. The Moon is a bit blown out here, but my plan of operation was to stick to one lens, and the same camera settings all through the Eclipse then stack the images in post development. The Moon in the beginning would be blown out I knew, but later in the darker phase of the Eclipse the exposure would be correct.

To see what other photographer’s who are participating in Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness 2  weekly challenge have posted this week click here.

Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8 @f8| 10 seconds| ISO 400

More to come…

Gung hay fat choy!

Posted in Astro Imaging, Astrophotograhpy, Chinese New Year, Conjunctions, Mars, Moon, New Moon, VenusTagged , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

It’s Chinese New Year today and a new Conjunction! The New Moon, Mars, and Venus shine in the Western Sky tonight.  If not for my friend Andy I probably wouldn’t have remembered this! Check him out here.  Thank you Andy!!!

I wasn’t able to venture further than my front yard to photograph it so, here you have it.  Mars is the teenie tiny red dot between the Moon and Venus.

Gung hay fat choy!
For those interested… The Year of the Sheep:
Chinese: 羊 yáng
Sheep (goat, or ram) is among the animals that people like most. It is gentle and calm. Since ancient times, people have learned to use its fleece to make writing brushes and skin to keep warm. The white cute creature often reminds people of beautiful things.

Earthly Branch of Birth Year: wei
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): tu (earth)
Yin Yang: yin

Lucky Signs for Sheep:
Lucky Numbers: 3, 4, 9
Lucky Colors: green, red, purple
Lucky Flowers: carnation, primrose, Alice flower
Lucky Directions: east, southeast, south
~http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/sheep.htm

Years of the Sheep
  • 02/01/1919-02/19/1920
  • 02/17/1931-02/05/1932
  • 02/05/1943-01/24/1944
  • 01/24/1955-02/11/1956
  • 02/09/1967-01/29/1968
  • 01/28/1979-02/15/1980
  • 02/15/1991-02/03/1992
  • 02/01/2003-01/21/2004
  • 02/19/2015-02/07/2016
  • 02/06/2027-01/25/2028

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 80-200mm| Tripod| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Northern Hemisphere, USA

More to come…