My 2012 Super Moon Shot




The whole afternoon I was debating with myself whether I should take a photo of what's being billed as the Super Moon of 2012 which is supposed to be 14% bigger and brighter than the usual full moon. I wasn't really that determined to do it since the sky was a bit overcast. In fact the local weather agency was twitting about rainfall in some southern Luzon provinces which may also affect the Manila metropolitan area in the late afternoon or early evening.

So I went through most of the evening doing the usual routinary things, e.g. watching TV, having dinner with the family, watching more TV shows, and browsing the internet. But the thought of that Super Moon continued to pre-occupy my mind.

Eventually, just about half an hour before the stroke of midnight on May 6, 2012. I decided to give in to an urge. With my trusty Canon digital compact camera on one hand, I unlocked our front door, dragged a small chair to our driveway, looked upward to the sky. And through the leafy branches of the Macopa tree on our front yard, I shot this:



Super Moon 2012


I took a number of shots but I liked this one best as it appears to give the moon an eye-like appearance with the green leaves framing the moon.

Although I'm using a compact digital sans the advantage of the high resolution of an SLR lens, I'm quite pleased with the turn out nonetheless.

In hindsight, I'm glad I made that decision to take a photo of this heavenly phenomenon as this will not happen again until June 2013 (more than a year from now). So if I missed this one, I'll have to wait for another 12 months to see another one, and astrologers say it will be about 20 miles further away than this one.


One more shot - a Black and White version. I call it the Super Moon as a Pearl as the moon looks like a white pearl nestled on a leaf.

Super Moon as a Pearl



Comments

  1. Tochie **May 7, 2012 at 12:46 AM

    TRIVIA. Did you know that full moon has names? Here's a list:

    Full moon names by month:

    January: Old Moon, or Moon After Yule
    February: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, or Wolf Moon
    March: Sap Moon, Crow Moon, or Lenten Moon
    April: Grass Moon, or Egg Moon
    May: Planting Moon, or Milk Moon
    June: Rose Moon, Flower Moon, or Strawberry Moon
    July: Thunder Moon, or Hay Moon
    August: Green Corn Moon, or Grain Moon
    September: Fruit Moon, or Harvest Moon
    October: Harvest Moon, or Hunter’s Moon
    November: Hunter’s Moon, Frosty Moon, or Beaver Moon
    December: Moon Before Yule, or Long Night Moon

    Read more fascinating moon trivia here - http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/full-moon-names

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nona Enriquez-SchanowskiMay 7, 2012 at 2:42 AM

    Ang galing..pang painting mood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. louella alixMay 7, 2012 at 8:13 AM

    Thanks for the research! I like the sound of Flower Moon and Strawberry Moon. Harvest Moon has appeared in a song too:

    shine on, shine on, shine on August moon
    up in the sky
    shine on, shine on Harvest Moon
    for me and my gal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tochie **May 7, 2012 at 9:08 AM

    Thanks Nons.

    Since it was almost totally dark, it was hard for me to see from the camera's small LCD screen what other objects were inside the frame other than the moon itself. So when I reviewed the shot, it was only then that I realized that a few leaves were inside the frame. And it took me a little while more to realize what it looks like.

    This was really a "blind" shot.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tochie **May 7, 2012 at 9:10 AM

    You're welcome Lou. Here's more moon trivia from that site:

    "About once every 19 years, February has no full moon at all. Moreover, in 7 out of every 19 years, two full moons will fall in the same calendar month. The second of the month’s two full moons is popularly referred to as a Blue Moon. The next Blue Moon by this definition will happen on August 31, 2012."

    Watch out for that Blue Moon. It's just around the corner :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tochie **May 7, 2012 at 9:17 AM

    "SHINE ON HARVEST MOON" (1931) by Ruth Etting

    ReplyDelete
  7. CatH \(^_^)/May 7, 2012 at 5:01 PM

    a big fat round moon! thanks for sharing Chito..pagod na ako galing Korea kaya dito na ako mag enjoy sa mga posts ng pictures of the Big Moon...

    ReplyDelete
  8. camera *May 8, 2012 at 1:02 AM

    beautiful shots, as always! i like september - fruit or harvest moon!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tochie **May 8, 2012 at 1:04 AM

    Hi Cat. After looking at these photos, you can close your eyes and imagine yourself lying down on the sand and looking up to the sky with the big round moon. That will be very relaxing. Just right for your tired wanderlust bones.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tochie **May 8, 2012 at 1:23 AM

    Here's the rest of my super moon photos presented in a collage. The center photo shows the moon partly obscured by some leaves. I found it quite unique so I decided to give it more prominence over the others.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tochie **May 13, 2012 at 12:06 PM

    Thank you. Glad you like it.

    ReplyDelete

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