Sunday, January 11, 2009

Wolf Moon



Yesterday's (Jan 10th) moon was said to be the biggest and brightest moon of 2009!


According to NASA, the moon appeared about 14 percent bigger in the sky and was supposed to be 30 percent brighter than other full moons during 2009.

Yesterday's brightest moon was also called "Wolf Moon".  According to Space.com, full moon names date back to the Native Americans. Those tribes of a few hundred years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon.  Their names were applied to the entire month in which they occurred.  The January moon was named after a wolf because amid the extreme cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages.

Charles and I walked outside and into one of the trails going up the hill behind our house, hoping to catch a good view of the brightest moon.  And there it was--big, bright and perfectly round to the naked eye.  This is the best I can capture--I had to crop this photo to make it look a little bigger because the longest zoom I have is only 200mm.

I also wished I was in a good spot to take a photo of the moon right after the sunset when it appeared much closer to the earth like this, and we can still see the horizon with it.  But I'm still happy with this photo.




16 comments:

Anonymous January 11, 2009 at 11:52 PM  

oh, this is beautiful! i wanted to take a picture of the moon because, like you, i was also amazed by the fact that it was the biggest moon of 2009. sadly, i couldn't get a good view and it was too cold last night.

i take it you're enjoying your new camera? :-)

Anonymous January 12, 2009 at 3:08 AM  

I wouldnt know what kinds of cameras are best but surely your new one is good! I think I can see the moon's crates on the bottom part. See that?

keth January 12, 2009 at 3:28 AM  
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keth January 12, 2009 at 3:30 AM  
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konsuy January 12, 2009 at 4:36 AM  

love your wolf moon photo. klaro kaayo nga enjoy kaayo ka sa imong bag-ong camera. =) thanks for sharing all your wonderful shots.

keth January 12, 2009 at 5:14 AM  

hi liz, this is truly amazing!!! suya ko because i wanted to get a shot myself, but it was too late when i found out about it. but you captured it really well. more importantly, you were there to witness it. i am more disappointed that i missed the moment. i'm sorry i had to delete my previous comments. i got my facts about the biggest moon wrong, hehe.

Aileen January 12, 2009 at 5:28 AM  

oh wow! what an amazing shot! the moon is one of the hardest to photograph, yet you got this perfect! =)

Unknown January 12, 2009 at 5:42 AM  

I must agree. This is a great shot. Now...teach me beh!

Liza January 12, 2009 at 2:27 PM  

Hi CUZ, I am fascinated with anything that has to do with space, galaxy, solar system, etc. I even went as far as waking up at 2:00 in the morning to take shots of the total eclipse back in Aug 2007. So gi-antus gyud nako ang katugnaw, hehe. And yes--I'm enjoying the new camera so far!

Liza January 12, 2009 at 2:28 PM  

Hi MARIS! That's what I like best about the moon--if you take a closer look, you'll see a lot of things, not just bright light! I'd like to imagine I am seeing Neil Armstrong's footsteps there, hehe!

Liza January 12, 2009 at 2:31 PM  

Salamat CHI! I continue to share photos because there are a lot of nice people here who keeps inspiring and encouraging me! Looking at the other bloggers photos and reading their blogs allow me to share their experiences and I want to return the favor. So, thanks to you!

Liza January 12, 2009 at 2:35 PM  

Hi KETH! Don't worry--try next month's full moon. It may not be as big but it will still be beautiful. Or better yet--look out for the biggest one in 2010!

Liza January 12, 2009 at 2:39 PM  

Thank you AILEEN! You're very kind! I don't think this was perfect though, but this was good enough for me. I did some research on photographing the moon before I took this and I found some really great moon photographs.

Liza January 12, 2009 at 4:23 PM  

Hi LYNETTE, I just browsed for tips on how to photograph the moon online and you'll find lots and lots of articles about it. But the basic tips I got was to set the aperture at f/11-f/16 and set the shutter to the inverse of the ISO (e.g if you use ISO 100, then set shutter at 1/100. If you use ISO 200, then set shutter at 1/200). I tried both and got pretty much the same results. Try it yourself and let me know how it goes :-)

Life+Style by C. Dacua-Ellazar Photography January 12, 2009 at 9:17 PM  

nice one liz, you were able to pull out the best of the moon.

that's a wonderful tip... very good for you to research it first [great move there].

i was driving to work that next day and i did notice how huge the moon... i was of course hoping i was able to capture such wonderful view [it was more beautiful because the moon was still there and the sun is about to rise --- i drive to work around 0630am), but as what you said liz, will hopefully try it next time [hapit nako ma-late sa pag-ka-amuse sa view, naglaway ko pag-ayo, was hoping i had my camera. we were quite busy that day sa work].

by the way liz, you have a new camera now???

Liza January 12, 2009 at 9:33 PM  

Hi Dee! Try it next time. It's better if you can actually shoot the moon right after sunset or just before sunrise because it appears much closer to earth. So you'll be able to capture it with other views instead of just plain black background.

Yeah--I just got my new cam. I talked about it here: http://monkeyseye.blogspot.com/2009/01/shooting-again.html.

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I got interested in photography when I met my husband. He loved photography since the 80's when he owned a Canon AE1 SLR camera. When we got married, we met a great photographer who inspired me even more. I started taking photos when my husband and I got our DSLR camera back in 2005. I never really shared my photos. But lately, I've been introduced to photoblogging and I saw it to be a great way of expression. My photos are amateur but I hope to learn more as I blog and connect with people.

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