Lunar Eclipse - Blood Moon on "Wordless Wednesday"

Shooting the Moon

I've been taking some time lately to practice taking pictures of the moon. I've been reading up on the settings for a camera, and reading the manual for my camera  (I know - SACRILEGE - a man reading the instructions - oh well.)  I started last month when we had the harvest super-moon and I wanted to get some pictures.  I had actually tried for the super-moon before that - but all I got were white circles against a black background.

So, for August I did some research and was able to get some detail in the shots.

Not too bad for my first attempt to do more than just set the camera on automatic and hope for a good shot. I've started manually setting the speed and aperture.

I was able to get out again last week to try a crescent moon. It required different setting because there was a lot less light being reflected.

With the terminator line (where the light ends) it's easier to see more details because of the longer shadows (it's sunrise along that line and the shadows are at their maximum.) These were taken after dark so there is very little color to capture, just the white light of the sun reflected off the moon's surface. These were taken from a tripod so that it would be more stable than me trying to hold the camera. I was also using a 2 second delay to let me push the button and let go so that the camera could be still when the picture was actually taken.

Earlier this week I went out before twilight to get some more pictures of the half moon in a light sky. I had problems because the light sky did not allow the crispness of detail I wanted on the moon's surface.  I ended up using a small aperture to darken the background and sharpen the moon's surface details. Also taken from a tripod with a 2 second delay.

I was able to get details, again with the most right at the terminator line, but I also got more color than the shots after it was dark.  I'm still experimenting with the exposure time and aperture setting, but I'm trying to keep track of what I'm doing so that I can understand the differences in the results. I'm also paying more attention to the image properties before I do any post processing, just trying to learn how the settings create the final image. I'm also getting past the need to take 20 shots to get 2 good ones.

Montauk Daisies

It's getting near the end of the year for the garden and we've seen an outburst of flowers. They are Montauk Dasies and there are groupings of the on the left, the center, and the far right on the back hill.  They are the white flowering bushes in the panorama below.

A more detailed look at one grouping looks like this:

These are from the grouping on the far left in the panorama. The former owners must have really liked these because there are more than 10 bushes of these on the back hill.  When they show up, they show up in force.  They give a nice pop of white late in the season and they should be blooming until the first frost - hopefully not too soon.

I read that they also attract bees and butterflies - THEY DO.  The following pictures were taken within  30 minutes a couple of days ago.

It was late afternoon and the sun was going down, so I was able to get some shots where the wings were back-light (backlit?) had back-light. I have not researched this specific butterfly, but the split wings are interesting. It's not one big wing like a swallowtail or a monarch. The second and third pictures almost make it look like a jet fighter wing configuration.

I was also trying some different camera settings to try and darken the background to minimize distractions. I was happy with these shots and will continue practicing my photography skills. Particularly since we are getting to the end of the gardening seasons.

Garden panoramas

Well, I've taken the end of August panorama and I thought I'd show off the progression of the back garden through this spring and summer.

April

I didn't have the idea of doing the panoramas at first, so the mid-April pictures are actually two sets that didn't overlap enough to allow them to be stitched together.

Mid April left side of hill

Mid April right side of hill

The early daffodils really stand out against the red mulch.

Late April

Beginning to see where the bigger elements of the garden are returning to the spring garden.

May

Mid May

Beginning to see the Azaleas in the center show their color.

Late May

By late May there has been a lot of growth and filling in, even the vegetable garden on the far right is showing growth.

June

Mid June

In June we started seeing the Primrose and the Rose Campion - bunches of yellow and pinkish red.

Late June

July

Mid July

By mid July we were seeing a LOT of the green spikey plants all over, but particularly in the center - blocking our view of the butterfly bushes..

Late July

I made a decision that the green spikey things were weeds - they were taking over and growing so big that we couldn't see much else. - except the mutant tomato bushes taking over the vegetable garden.  There are only 3 tomato bushes in that garden over there on the right.

August

Mid August

It was a very mild August, very few days in the 90's and none that I can remember in the 100's. Everything continued to thrive, but we don't have much blossoming out back in the late summer.  We had a very healthy hibiscus in the front yard, but those pictures are in other posts.

Late August

August has continued mild (a little hot this week, but nothing to complain about.) The mutatnt tomato plants are still going strong - we're getting between a pint and a quart of cherry tomatoes almost every day.

September and October

There will still be plenty to do and more tomatoes to harvest, but the major flowering and gardening for this season is winding down.  I'm already making plans for next year, but this project has given me a longer perspective on the cycles of the garden through the Spring and Summer months.  I need to find some more late blooming plants o help fill out all the greenery of August and September.

Mid August Panorama and Bloom Day

We're half way through another month and it's time to double up on a panorama shot and bloom day.  Bloom Day is a project at May Dreams Garden that invites people to share what is blooming on the 15th of the month.  August's post is here. We don't have much blooming this time of year, mostly the butterfly bushes, the hibiscus and some phlox hanging on.  The panorama is very green (plenty of great weather here outside of Washington DC.)

The most activity we are having out in the garden is actually harvesting the tomatoes.  It rained on Tuesday so we didn't get out there and on Wednesday Gloria picked a quart of cherry tomatoes.  We just keep them on the breakfast bar and they're handy for healthy snacking, just grab a handful as you're passing by and looking for a quick nosh.  The vegetable garden (on the far right) is almost completely overtaken by 3 tomato plants and the cherry plant is taking over the heirloom and jumbo plants. This was the harvest a couple weeks ago.

On to what's blooming.

Across the back fence are 4 butterfly bushes, but we have had very few butterflies this year.  I'm seeing a lot more bees (and a dragonfly earlier this summer) than butterflies.  For this post I didn't see any butterflies, but there were a couple of bees.

I don't know if it's the cool summer, or the damp spring but even the butterfly bushes don't look as healthy as in past years.

At least some pollinators are able to take advantage of the bushes.

And as a bonus - just because I like this picture - I'll let you see the dragonfly from earlier this summer.

And because it is bloom day, not because they are particularly photogenic, here is a shot of some of the phlox still holding on.

The big bloomer right now is the hibiscus in the front yard.

OK, I was playing with the macro setting in the camera and got this "in your face" shot.

Here are some more shots of the Queen of Sharon hibiscus.

I had to get a ladder out of the shed to get up high enough to get  these shots, it's blooming right at the roofline and that's a rain gutter just behind the blossoms.

I love the gentleness of these blossoms.

Macro Hibiscus

On my way out for my walk in the woods yesterday i spotted some hibiscus blooming in the front yard. I'm not out front as much as the backyard - so I don't get as many pictures of the front.  The hibiscus are usually well over my head, so it was nice to see some down where I could get some decent angles.  The light was cooperating mostly, morning sun, but not too harsh.  I had my camera with me, since I was heading out to the wildlife refuge.

I've been experimenting with the macro settings on my camera. Hey - I'm a guy and it's a technology toy - I need to experiment.  I can't (and don't want to) get ultra close to the bees and butterflies or the birds.  So, I've been experimenting with the macro settings on more stationary subjects.  And the hibiscus volunteered.

Here are two of the blooms at my level on the bush.

And with the zoom I was able to get a decent close-up shot.

But them I switched over to the macro setting (and to a bloom with less shadow at the center.) You can see some fun details like the spill of pollen on the petal below the stamen.

And even closer in macro mode. More details of the pollen on the stamen and on the petal below it, and the veins and coloring of the petals.

The I switched over to a super-macro setting and got really really close (much more than any critter would allow.)

The detail of the pollen, and the coloring in the petals is amazing - I never could achieve that much detail with just a zoom (not with my camera.)

Then I combined the super macro shot with some post processing digital zoom and got this:

WOW!!

I'll keep experimenting and keep posting about my progress.