Happy Full Moon

[b_slow]

Yep, I'm liking my D70 so far. Stepped out of the house tonight to catch the full moon rising over Lake Monona, but got out there about 15 minutes too late. As we were walking over to the lake, the moon was just HUGE and orange. This was probably 20 minutes after that, and the moon had shrunken considerably by then. Still, this cropped to 'actual pixels' in PS. Taken with a Sigma 300mm f/4.0. The other one is of the state capitol building from the Monona Terrace. Enjoy.

[Speed]

Yep, I'm liking my D70 so far. Stepped out of the house tonight to catch the full moon rising over Lake Monona, but got out there about 15 minutes too late. As we were walking over to the lake, the moon was just HUGE and orange. This was probably 20 minutes after that, and the moon had shrunken considerably by then. Still, this cropped to 'actual pixels' in PS. Taken with a Sigma 300mm f/4.0. The other one is of the state capitol building from the Monona Terrace. Enjoy.

I was out taking photo's of the moon as well!

Last night's full moon was special because it was "the largest full Moon of 2004, because the lunar perigee falls on the same date." Perigee is the point of closest approach to the earth.

I was taking photo's with my N80 and 70-300mm, my Coolpix 5700 (280mm 35mm equivalent), and with my Celestron (2032mm) with my N80 attached. Talk about frame filling, the moon really filled my viewfinder last night!

I love your shot of the moon. The clouds made photographing it a challenge, but I like how you caught the clouds in your image. Great catch!

[megan]

I like seeing the moon shot, but I have to say the shot of Monona Terrace is really great.

Megan

[dsl712]

That is some gooood stuff. Love the shot of the capital.

Dennis

[Sean Dempsey]

Great pictures!

The moon doesn't actually change size though, it's an illusion of it being closer to the horizon. It always is the same size, but the closer it is to the ground, the larger our brain perceives it.

[b_slow]

Glad you like the photos everyone. I think that my moon shots were a little bit out of focus, even though I was focussing manually, and paying very close attention at that. I think I'll go out again tonight and try to get some shots of the moon coming up over the horizon. Hopefully I'll get that focussing issue down this time.

Sean, actually the image of the moon does change in size as it's closer to the horizon, due to the refraction of light as it bends under the earth's gravity. It's not just your frame of reference. Try it out tonight if it's clear where you are. Look at the moon at around 8:25 (right as its rising)- it will be really big and orange, while several hours later, the moon will appear considerably smaller and brighter. It's not just an illusion, and you can prove it by taking telephoto shots at the same focal length, and then comparing later.