This Morning’s Incredible Super Blue Blood Moon!

by | Jan 31, 2018 | Stories & Expeditions | 11 comments

Did you hear about the incredible natural phenomenon that happened this morning?

I’ll let NASA explain all the juicy details about it…..what I was interested in was taking pictures of it!

Here’s what excited me about it:

  • Though where I live it was not going to be a total lunar eclipse, I figured even a partial eclipse would make the moon an interesting color.
  • The eclipse was going to be happening right around sunrise. This means there could be beautifully colored clouds I could compose in a shot of the moon.
  • Being a full moon, naturally, the moon was going to be very close to the horizon at sunrise. You know what this means! Instead of being a tiny ball in the sky in the dead of night, the moon appear to be a gigantic orb resting on the horizon….epic conditions for landscape photography!
  • Not only that, but this was going to be a “super moon” which means it’s closer to the earth than normal making it about 7% larger than normal.
  • Lastly, when I woke up this morning the forecast was partly cloudy so chances were I would be able to see the phenomenon and still have some clouds to work with in the composition.

I was getting pretty excited about it!

But there was something I was a little worried about. Last night, I had done some scouting on TPE (The Photographers Ephemeris) to find a location close to me where I would actually be able to see the moon on the horizon. You see, as you know, I’m from West Virginia. There are plenty of places you get up high to see the horizon, but the problem is getting a clear view of it. Plus, most land is private around here so I’d have to get permission for a specific spot if there was a clear vantage point that opened up in the right direction.

The place I finally settled on was a cemetery just on the other side of town about 10 minutes away. Cemeteries are public and usually offer clear views, and this one happened to have a view in the right direction.

So, after personal and family devotions, I hopped in the car to see what I could see!

20180131_0731232

I think my little cell phone selfie tells the story.

The view was clear, but it wasn’t high enough.

In the opposite direction, to the east, there happened to be a think bank of clouds, too, so it turns out there was no colorful clouds or golden light either. There wasn’t a single thing to pull my camera out of of the bag for. 🙁

Oh well, it doesn’t hurt to try! Do the best you can. Leave the results to God.

20180131_073447

Get each article as soon as it goes live!

Recommended Ebook

11 Comments

  1. Farmboy

    Same for me, got out of the barn at sunrise just to see thick clouds blocking what I hoped to see.

    Reply
  2. Logan Lamar

    Ah! I’m on the west coast (so I got a total)… and the total eclipse was going to be at around 4:50 to 6:07 in the morning with a partial about an hour in either direction. First half of the partial looked good (the bright uneclipsed part cut through the clouds and it looked really cool), but I was bit too groggy to run and set up my camera—and didn’t want to miss the event while fiddling with a tripod. I did set up my camera for the total, but clouds mostly covered the moon then, ruining the clarity of the resulting images and hiding the moon for the rest of the eclipse.

    Oh well, better weather next time?

    Reply
    • James Staddon

      Sweet! Glad you got to see it. Sorry the clouds moved in. That’s not really something we have control of. Makes photography a challenge though! Do you have your pictures posted anywhere?

      Reply
      • Logan Lamar

        Not really. Do you have any sites you’d recommend?

        Reply
      • James Staddon

        I currently use Zenfolio for hosting my portfolio. Here’s my referral code if you want to get a small discount when signing up: http://www.zenfolio.com/?refcode=lenspiration It’s geared toward photographers specifically.

        If you’re a Lightroom user, I believe they have some options you could look into, under the Web module, but I’m not familiar with how this works very well.

        Squarespace is also a good option I’ve heard, though I’ve never researched it.

        Reply
  3. Joshua Ong

    I’m sorry to read that you were unable to view the complete lunar eclipse. Fortunately for those of us in Australia, we were able to see the total eclipse in action: the moon being gradually and ultimately engulfed by the darkness. All that was left of the super moon was a reddish hue that reminded me of the lunar conditions surrounding the Lord’s return, when the moon will be turned into blood (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20; Rev. 6:12). Although I couldn’t capture the moon up close with my camera, I was able to use a smartphone and take a few shots through a Dobsonian reflector telescope.

    Reply
  4. Amber Nelson

    That’s too bad the clouds rolled in…you would’ve taken some great photos I’m sure!

    Here in north west GA, we watched some of the partial eclipse and I snapped a few photos! My siblings and I got up early and we watched it for a little while until it went below the tree line. We were really bummed, but thankfully, didn’t have to deal with many clouds blocking the view. It was a memorable morning, none the less. 🙂

    Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

    Reply
    • James Staddon

      A good memory to make with siblings. 🙂

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send the next blog post straight to your email inbox!

Thank you for subscribing!