Astrophotography
There I was, minding my own business, finally noticing that the skies of Hawaii are filled with stars. I guess I was hooked.
The Moon
Supermoon
A "supermoon" appears larger-than-usual because it's a bit closer to Earth, what astronomers call a perigean full moon – a moon that is full and at its closest point in its orbit around Earth.
I took this shot from our front yard in New Hampshire, over the light polution of Boston, about 40 miles away. The sky was so clear and the moon was so bright, that the light really didn’t matter.
Camera: Nikon D750, 200 - 500 @ 500mm, f7.1, 1/4000s, ISO 1000, 2019-05-16
The Competition
A month before I took the full moon shot above, our company had a contest which was due before the full moon, so I had to use a phase of the moon called “Waxing Gibbous.” Everyone in the company got either a telescope or a microscope for Christmas and the competition was to “explore without or within.” No matter which we got, we also got an attachment to mount our iPhones over the eyepiece and were to submit our best photos.
I found an attachment that connected my Nikon D750 DSLR camera directly to the telescope and took the shot here. Then I had to have some fun with it. A week before the winner was announced the Company’s CEO called me to ask how I got such a good shot. I explained. She said, “So you cheated.” I had to admit that I guess I did. “Well, we can’t give you first prize then.” I told her I understood. She said, “But we’ll give you honorable mention.” So I said, “You are giving me honorable mention for being dishonorable?” “Exactly.”
