A Horse With No Name

This past week I had the opportunity to take some photographs in the desert of Arizona. My muse for the shots without a doubt stems from America's song, A Horse With No Name. Sunsets, silhouettes, sunrises, twilight shots, and desert life fill these frames. I will admit that I took artistic license with some of these shots, but it must be taken into consideration that the desert is a tough subject to photograph. Regardless, I basked in delight while taking these. It was an incredible experience and I will return someday to capture the beauty of this place. Enjoy!

Super Moon: Delayed

So, the super moon was not visible in my area of the world this year due to some intense cloud cover and storms. While I was a little saddened by the missed opportunity, I fully intend to capture the super moon in 2013.

Also, I must say that even though I was unable to capture this majestic celestial event, the thunderstorm season has arrived and I am ecstatic for more opportunities to chase lightning again. Pictures to come!

Super Moon Eve

Below is the second attempt at capturing the Moon before it reaches Perigee. Due to the time difference between the two shoots, these results from my second shoot depict better detail and clarity. The settings for the camera were changed to accommodate the size, position and radiance of tonight's moon.

Camera settings:
Focal length: 300mm
ISO: 1/200
Aperture: f/13

Celestial Prelude to the Super Moon

Tomorrow, May 5, 2012, the Earth's moon will not only be full, but will "Perigee," being at its closest point in its orbital approach to Earth. Therefore, it is being called a Super Moon.

After discovering this information, last night (or more realistically this morning) I decided to do a prelude shoot to prep my camera settings for Saturday's shoot. Even though I was shooting with my 75-300mm zoom lens and I didn't have my aperture setting as exposed as it probably needed to be, the results from my first moon shoot didn't disappoint. Enjoy!

The Camera's settings: Aperture f/8.0 ISO 100, 80, & 60 Focal Length 300mm
Next shoot, I'll open the aperture wider to f/4.5 to see if I can sharpen up the image.