6:30am moon over San Jacinto

I heard Ray quietly walking over to me at 6:30 this morning. I wasn't asleep and I wasn't awake. Ray was so quiet as he tip toed over to the side of my bed. He couldn't tell if I was awake with my eyes closed enjoying the comfort of my warm cozy bed or sound asleep. He decided to say, "Linda. Come see the moon over snowy Mt. San Jacinto. It's beautiful."

I lifted up my head, looked around Ray, out the window where, in the still somewhat dark sky, the full moon was positioned perfectly over the peak of Mt. San Jacinto, shining down on the newly snowed on San Jacinto mountains. Aaaah.

I thought, "I've got to get up and take this picture", as I simultaneously placed my head back on the pillow. For 3 seconds I stayed put under the covers, feeling guilty, fearing I was missing a great photo op. Then I got up. Peed. An went outside with my tripod and camera, not concerned with the cold because the moon was rapidly moving lower in the sky, minutes away from slipping out of sight behind "the Mountain."
Our Mountain.


Thanks Ray.

Linda, "Go look at the moon out front."

Ray had just returned from Trader Joe's, when he told me to go outside and look at the beautiful moonrise, still rather low in the sky. I went out with my Canon 40D and tripod to see if I could for once capture the moon with some detail as opposed to capturing it all blown out and overexposed as I usually do.

Not only is exposure a problem for me, but the moon and clouds are always moving even though I can't really see the movement. So I tried to shoot with the fastest shutter speed I could and still have the moon exposed correctly for detail. While in Mammoth trying to shoot the moon, I got frustrated and gave up. But last night I actually got some detail in the moon with the 28 to 200mm lens I was using.

I'd read that shooting the moon when it is closest to the horizon line (rising or setting) helps in generating a sharper image. By the time I finally fiddled around with all my equipment, the moon was much higher in the sky.

Color over Mt San Jacinto.