Monday, August 11, 2014

The Not-So-Super-Moon


All this talk of a "super moon" is all hype.  The increased size of the full moon when it is closer to us in its orbit -"Perigee" - is only 7% larger than the average full moon.  It's not much bigger and it's not much brighter.  The only way you could see the difference, would be to photograph the moon with a long telephoto lens, or a telescope, when it was close, and when it was far, and compare the photographs.  Having said that, I went out last night, and because the moon was behind scudding clouds, I thought it would make a lovely photograph.  For the technically inclined among you, I had to make this an HDR image.  I picked the best image, shot in RAW, and then exported a lighter exposure, a normal exposure, and a darker exposure, and then combined them.  This way there is detail in the face of the moon, and there is detail in the clouds.  I have to say, that watching the scudding clouds across the face of the moon, using either binoculars or a telescope, is an absolutely magical experience.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the details of how you captured the image!! :).